Vol. 436 No. 7
196 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Health the proposals, if any, he has to expand the speech therapy services available to St. Brigid's School, Harbour Street, Mullingar, County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the importance of such a service to special schools.
Responsibility for the provision of speech therapy in the Midland Health Board is a matter for that board. At present the board provides speech therapy services to St. Brigid's school in Mullingar for one day per week. The board has no immediate plans to expand this service.
I am concerned at the adequacy of speech and language therapy services in different parts of the country. However, the Deputy will appreciate that in the light of competing demands for the development of other services for persons with a mental handicap and the physically and sensory disabled, improvements in the speech and language service can only come about on a phased basis. Additional funding of £200,000 was provided this year towards improvements in speech and language therapy services. I hope to build on these developments in the future.
