Children’s services and school access
Deputy Dempsey relayed parents’ concerns about understaffed disability teams, therapy and assessment waiting lists, and inadequate education access. The Taoiseach said legislation would ensure assessments were not prerequisites for school placement and that services should take priority.
As the Taoiseach heard, Every Child Matters is a group formed in Trim, County Meath. They were here with us today. They undertook a protest outside and we had a heartbreaking briefing in the audiovisual room this afternoon. That group quickly spread nationwide and the group represents a lot of parents who are fighting for services for their kids. They spoke to us about understaffed CDNTs, not being able to access therapies, the long waiting lists for the assessments of need and inadequate access to education. I acknowledge there has been a lot of work done here. There has been a lot done in reducing the AON list and increased budgets for special education. One of their questions on education was around the AON and medical report process. It is putting our young children in a box. It is predetermining the education the child will get, whether it be in a special class or in a special school. We should be taking a more rounded and flexible approach to avoid segregation, keeping them where possible with their peers. What is the Department of education doing?
Comment on this
We would agree with that, actually, and that is why we are amending the legislation pertaining to assessments of need and are also making sure an assessment of need is not a prerequisite for a school placement, either in a special class or in a different context in the school. That flexibility should be there. Our aim is to try to get the therapies and the therapists providing the services. At the moment, because of High Court decisions and so on in the past, the pendulum has swung to assessment and not enough to delivering the services for children who require them. Most parents want services as quickly as possible for their child.
There has been progress made on CDNTs but not enough, and that is a structure that was historically challenging. We have an in-school therapy service in place now. If I am correct, 61 schools will see that in-school therapy service initially. Recruitment is under way and that will build up over time, so that every special school will have a therapy service. Then we will expand that service to the mainstream.