Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-15
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

We are doing a number of things. We are recruiting more therapists. We are changing the system. There were too many therapists involved in the assessment of need process and not enough in the provision of therapy services. We are also creating a new school-based therapy service, starting with special schools. There will be speech and language therapists and occupational therapists in the special schools and we will extend that into the mainstream as we progress. The Minister for education received funding this year from the Government with a view to implementing in-school therapy services in our special schools and we hope that the first phase of that will conclude in the next school year. We are committed to doing that and to building it up. That will be key because it would mean regular interaction for children with particularly severe needs on a regular basis with speech and language therapists.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-15