Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Dec 2002

Vol. 559 No. 1

Written Answers. - Speech Therapy Services.

John Deasy

Ceist:

331 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the lack of available speech therapists for children with special needs; his plans to reverse this trend; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25787/02]

John Deasy

Ceist:

336 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the lack of available speech therapists for children with special needs; his plans to reverse this trend; if the report from a person (details supplied) published on 25 July 2001 and the establishment of an inter-agency working group which was formed to implement the recommendations have made progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25793/02]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 331 and 336 together.

Significant progress is being achieved in expanding the number of therapy training places, including in speech and language therapy, in line with the recommendations of the report "Current and Future Supply and Demand Conditions in the Labour Market for Certain Professional Therapists" prepared by Dr. Peter Bacon and Associates and published in June 2001. A detailed assessment of the bids to supply these additional training places was carried out by an inter-agency group comprising the Higher Education Authority, the Department of Education and Science, the health boards and my Department with regard to proposed curricula; availability of high-quality clinical placements; speed at which these places could be provided and the recommendation contained in the Bacon report that consideration should be given to the development and validation of courses at different institutions.

Following the completion of the work of this group, in May 2002, I, along with the Minister for Education and Science, jointly announced the creation of 75 additional training places in speech and language therapy as follows: University of Limerick: Master of Science in Speech and Language Therapy; 25 places. University College Cork: Bachelor of Science in Speech and Language Therapy; 25 places. National University of Ireland, Galway: Bachelor of Science in Speech and Language Therapy; 25 places.

I understand that preparations for the initial intake to these courses is currently under way. Intensive efforts have been undertaken to improve staffing levels in speech and language therapy, both at local and national level. Relevant developments include the continued implementation of the recommendations of the expert group report on various health professions, which include new pay scales and career structures, the undertaking of a concerted overseas recruitment drive on behalf of all health boards, the introduction of a fast track working visa scheme for health and social care professionals and the streamlining of procedures for the validation of overseas qualifications. These measures are reflected in the increase of 54 speech and language therapists (+15.6%) employed in the public health service over the past two years.