I raise the child disability network teams and the chronic situation regarding their staffing. There are vacancies across the State. They run between 22% and 29% according to replies I have received from the HSE. In County Laois, however, the situation is far worse. I will read the figures for the shortages: occupational therapy in network 12, which covers most of the county, is 33% staffed; speech and language therapy is 46% staffed; physiotherapy is 50% staffed; therapy assistants and dietetics are zero staffed. In network 11, which covers the north of the county and part of Offaly, the situation with dietetics is the very same. Therapy assistants and behaviour therapists both have zero staffing. For families with children on the autism spectrum, or with ADHD, dyspraxia or similar conditions, trying to get an assessment is a problem but trying to get the therapies is a bigger problem. This has to be sorted. The programme for Government says on page 92 that the Government will “increase staffing, train more therapists and prioritise children’s disability teams”. I welcome that commitment but the Taoiseach has been in government for most of the last 30 years. The Taoiseach was Minister for Health at one stage and I have to bring it to his attention that right through that period, this crisis has pertained. I remember during the boom of the Celtic tiger, parents coming to me as a county councillor who were desperately trying to get services. It goes back to that boom in the late nineties. Then we had the crash and then the uplift in 2014 and 2015 and we are still in the same situation. This has to be sorted out. Children are missing out at crucial periods in their development. We know, as does the Taoiseach and everyone who looks at these issues, that early intervention is key, but it is not happening. This is putting enormous pressure on parents and families. They are coming to TDs and when they have to come to TDs, councillors or anyone else, the system is failing and we must address it. Some voluntary organisations such as Laois Offaly Families for Autism are trying to plug that gap by providing therapy and assessments but they can only do so much because they are voluntary organisations. As an Oireachtas, we have a responsibility – the Opposition and the Government – to sort this out. We have to increase the pipeline of staff coming into the services. The programme for Government includes the commitment I have mentioned, but there are immediate actions that can be taken on that.

Sentiment score: -0.12

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. Yes, the education situation has improved over the last two and a half decades. I accept that. We have more to do there but we were starting from zero where we had nothing. However, in the HSE overall, there is a great problem between budget and services. No one will dispute that a considerable budget is going in. Certainly, I will not argue with it. There is a problem at the other end when we see what comes out in terms of services. There is a fog in the middle. Where does the money go? There is a question mark around that. It is the same with these therapies. When the Minister for Finance was deputising for the Taoiseach here a few weeks ago, he told me that the Taoiseach was chairing a Cabinet subcommittee on this. I would say three small things to the Taoiseach. First, he needs to expand the number of training courses in speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology and therapy assistants and dietetics. Second, he needs to recruit people for full-time positions and retain them in the services. Third, the Taoiseach mentioned the gaps in services. The gap is 100% in those therapies in networks 11 and 12. Someone needs to look at this. This should not be the case. There are no services in some of those therapies in Laois.

Sentiment score: 0.07