I will add to that contribution in respect of Deputy Naughten. We also convey our best wishes. The Deputy and his family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Last week, I was privileged to facilitate a briefing in the audiovisual room from parents and educators associated with the national Therapists in Special Schools Alliance. There was a very encouraging level of cross-party attendance. That was very welcome because I, for one, have absolutely no interest in seeing this issue used as a political football. Everybody, those of all parties and none, must work together to rectify this matter. I accept that many people, including the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, are acting in good faith but the fact remains that the special schools system has been forced to offer care and education in a state of near-permanent crisis for many years now. My sole interest is in identifying possible solutions and moving forward so that these special and beautiful children are no longer subjected to ongoing and highly distressing levels of regression and deterioration. At last week's briefing, we heard the heartbreaking stories of many people, including parents. They were saying that their children had been forced into residential care because the supports were not there. That is a national scandal. We have to do better.

I am aware that the HSE chief executive, Mr. Bernard Gloster, has written to parents and schools in my constituency regarding the ongoing work in progressing the disabilities roadmap and national policy. I am also aware that a communication was issued to each CHO area last February, confirming that additional therapy capacity available in other organisations could be commissioned to provide supports to children and families under the governance of the CDNTs. This included provision for children in special schools. This followed on from an initiative in Wexford where the local HSE used time-related savings from vacant CDNT posts to commission private therapy hours for a specific special school. However, as one parent put it to me, despite this communication from the HSE over eight months ago, children are still being left to deteriorate without vital therapeutic supports. In addition, essential therapeutic equipment is also lying idle for years because staff have not been trained to use it.

It is clear that something is very broken in this whole system. We need to look at solutions. The regional executive officer for the southern region made the correct decision to fund private sector therapy in St. Killian's special school in Cork for one term. This has to be done. Other REOs need to be able to make that same decision in order to help the special schools.

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. As she has correctly stated, it is an issue that transcends politics. We all want to see the best of education for all our children. We particularly want to see supports in place for those kids with additional and special needs. We have made significant strides in that period. I will come to the Deputy's question directly but I will first put it in context. I recall the level of special schools, special needs assistants and therapists when I first entered the Dáil in 2007. We have moved on substantially. However, we have a growing population and we can be thankful that we also have better diagnosis and early identification of special needs among kids. More supports are therefore needed.

Let us look at what has been done in education and how it needs to be complemented by health measures. More than a quarter of the entire education budget is being spent on special education, as is only right. More than 28,000 children are now being supported in special schools and classes. Since 2020, almost 1,700 new special classes have been established in mainstream schools and 11 new special schools and 7,600 more special education teachers have been provided. Budget 2025, which we have just passed, will add a further 768 special education teachers. We have recruited more than 4,000 special needs assistants since 2020. Again, budget 2025 will fund a further 1,600 special needs assistants, bringing the nationwide total to 23,000. Under budget 2025, nearly €2.9 billion has been allocated to provide additional teaching and care supports for children with special needs.

I agree with the Deputy that we all have families coming to us with issues in the area of early diagnosis and the provision of additional supports. That has been very difficult for parents and kids. We have made a lot of progress but there is still more to be done. We have looked at providing additional therapists. A total of 85 people have already been recruited to these additional posts. We went further in August with the Government decision to introduce the pilot programme the Deputy referred to whereby therapists will provide therapy supports to children in special schools. That was piloted across 16 schools in Cork and Dublin. The first six have been identified.

Unfortunately, there has been some delay in getting therapists on site. There have been some industrial relations issues there. I really hope these will be surmounted. Agreement could not be reached with regard to the redeployment of any current CDNT staff member to the pilot. That is regrettable. There is no doubt that progress has been made but I agree with Deputy Nolan that a sharp focus on this area is needed. Looking at the pilot programme and the difficulty we have had with redeployment as a result of industrial relations issues, people should really put the care of the kids first. We can work out any other issues after that. I assure the Deputy that all of us, as TDs, fully understand. I deal with parents and kids in my area who have had really good outcomes and who enjoy excellent special schools and SNAs, whom I thank for the work they have done. However, there are other families who have been waiting for far too long to get the support they need.

I thank the Minister for his reply. Everyone certainly needs to work together, but this is an emergency situation. Private therapists need to be brought into our special schools quickly. The only way that can be done is if all the REOs are directed to provide the funding to allow for these private therapists in the meantime, because the children are really finding it difficult. It is extremely challenging for the teachers.

This week, I visited Offaly School of Special Education, which is in my constituency. I heard at first hand from those teachers and SNAs. They are doing fantastic work but they need supports and they need them quickly. I was a teacher for 12 years and I experienced situations in which I was constantly fighting for resources for children in the school. I saw that clearly. Parents are becoming frustrated and are battling all of the time. Will the Government commit to writing to all regional executive officers and directing them to renew their focus on the issue of funding for private therapists? Will the Government commit to initiating reform of the children's disability network teams model, especially those aspects that are making the problems worse for schools like the Offaly School of Special Education and Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise?

I will certainly take every point Deputy Nolan has raised and raise them with the Minister for Education and the Minister for Health. We discuss this issue at Cabinet regularly.

As regards private assessment of need, that is, being able to utilise the private sector to work through the private assessments, we allocated just under €7 million in May 2024, as the Deputy will be aware. That will fund approximately 2,500 private assessments of needs for long-waiting families - families who have waited too long. I want to be very frank on that.

As for Deputy Nolan’s question about getting a commitment that all the regional leads would be written to again, I agree with her. That should happen. However, let us be clear: that should be happening anyway. I want to be clear on that; it should be happening now anyway.

All of these people do magnificent work. I was in Portmarnock, in my area, two weeks ago and met a number of SNAs. The work they do is incredible but they are under pressure. They need the support that is there. We have upped the resources. I will not go through all the figures again. We must recognise that where something is not working as it should, that needs to be said. Lots of kids are being helped but more need to be. I will make a commitment to talk directly to the Minister, Deputy Foley, who has been a really strong advocate in this space, and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to ensure there remains a specific and clear focus on this. Deputy Nolan’s suggestion to issue further correspondence to the regional leads is a good one. I will certainly pursue that.