Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-10
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I would commit to meeting the group, subject to varying commitments. We fully accept the need to overhaul access to therapy services. I would say that we are rolling out for the first time the therapy and education service, beginning with 45 special schools, hopefully starting in this academic year, and then all 145 special schools for the 2026-27 school year. After that, we will expand it to the mainstream school system. Obviously, we have to progress it because of recruitment and so on and we are expanding the number of placements. On top of that, we are developing a different assessment of need process, which the legislation published yesterday was designed to streamline but also to free up therapists to provide services as opposed to being locked up in an assessment process. Then we are looking at specifics around autism and so on. I take the Deputy's point about Down's syndrome. Some areas of special needs feel neglected with how things have evolved, so I understand the point.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:27+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-10