The HSE is proposing to remove in-school speech and language therapy services from the Holy Family School for the Deaf on the Navan Road and, I think, from the deaf schools in Cork and Limerick. Whatever the merits of the new children's disability network teams for provision of these services to the general population, it is beyond belief that consideration would even be given to removing speech and language therapy services from deaf children and young people who at some stage or another in their school careers rely very heavily on speech and language therapy. I do not have to tell the Taoiseach that the staff, the parents and the children and young people themselves are very concerned about this proposed move by the HSE. I ask him very simply to intervene and make this stop.

I am certainly not in favour of the removal of speech and language therapy services from schools for the deaf on the Navan Road, in Cork or anywhere else. I suspect this is part of the progressing disability strategy, which is nearly ten years old now and which had a different approach to providing speech and language services to children with special needs. My view is that we should move in the opposite direction and provide in-house and in-school multidisciplinary services for children with special needs. In education that initiative was taken on a pilot basis a year or two ago. In my view, that should be expanded because making services available to children in school in a co-ordinated, multidisciplinary way is the most effective way to support the development of the child. I passionately believe in that. I will follow up the matter.