Special Educational Needs
Seanad Éireann — 2023-02-16
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Anne Rabbitte (FF), Galway East

I will focus on that point because the Senator is correct. There are two different trains of thought on this. To be fair to the HSE, if a child is in need, for example, for occupational therapy, physiotherapy or speech and language therapy, the health needs will be met within the teams. If a child is P1 or P2, that priority listing of behavioural needs, he or she will be seen to because of that need and should not need a diagnosis to access it. However, a diagnosis is needed for education and for social welfare. Three different Departments have two different understandings of what is the need. At all times, we are saying we are a health model and, therefore, we meet the needs of the individual. I totally understand that. Unfortunately, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Education say two different things. If a person does not have that piece of paper, his or her child cannot access a special class, a special unit, domiciliary allowance or carer's allowance. That is a piece that needs to be sorted out. However, the HSE is correct in what it is saying to the Senator, but it is unjust not to acknowledge that, without a diagnosis, a person cannot access the other services. I am trying to break down that barrier of understanding.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2023-02-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:35+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-02-16