Vol. 526 No. 1
192 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has carried out an assessment of the adequacy of the back up services to cater for the needs of children in a class (details supplied); the plans he has to remedy the shortfall; and if the growing body of litigation in this area requires greater urgency from official quarters in rectifying these shortfalls. [25911/00]
Additional funding amounting to approximately £5 million has been allocated since 1998 to enhance the early intervention, pre-school and outreach health related support services for children of school going age with autism. These services are provided by multi-disciplinary support teams and include the provision of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, psychological and social work support services. The multi-disciplinary teams work closely with the parents and families of children with autism to address their needs.
While there has been a significant level of investment in recent years in these services as outlined above, health boards and specialist voluntary agencies are experiencing difficulties in both recruiting and retaining the health professionals required to deliver these services. My Department is working with health boards, the Eastern Regional Health Authority, and the voluntary agencies on a range of initiatives to address these difficulties. The Department of Education and Science and the Higher Education Authority, in consultation with my Department, are also putting in place initiatives to increase the number of training places available for these allied health professions. I have also requested health boards and the authority to adopt a flexible approach to the delivery of these services and to examine all possibilities in this area to ensure that as many children as possible have access to the necessary support services.
The provision of educational services for children with special needs, including those with autism, is the responsibility of the Department of Education and Science. In recent years there has been a significant expansion of these services and my Department, in conjunction with the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the health boards, has worked closely with the Department of Education and Science to put in place a comprehensive response to the needs of these children and their families. Both Departments will continue to work together to address the needs of these children.
