8. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach for an update in relation to the establishment of the new disability unit within his Department. [6095/25]

Sentiment score: 0.00

9. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach for an update in relation to establishment of the new disability unit within his Department. [6383/25]

Sentiment score: 0.00

16. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach for an update in relation to establishment of the new disability unit within his Department. [7953/25]

Sentiment score: 0.00

I very much welcome this whole-of-government approach to disability services which is so essential to meeting needs. My question relates to recruitment and retention. The critical skills list was expanded in 2022 so that occupational therapists and speech and language therapists could get employment permits. I have received replies to questions which show the figures are quite small. Just 62 occupational therapists and 21 speech and language therapists in the last three years have been given these permits.

Sentiment score: 0.04

There were 62 occupational therapists and 21 speech and language therapists. Obviously, this is a process that has worked very successfully for nurses and midwives where we recruit up to 1,000 internationally every year. Is this something the unit could look at and we could expand on further?

Sentiment score: 0.29