Disability Services
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-16
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Pauline Tully (SF), Cultural and Educational Panel

The Minister of State mentioned that over 45,000 children are receiving support through the CDNTs but parents have said to me that when they have been told that their child has received X number of interventions, and they know their child has not, the CDNT is counting interaction with parents. They are counting phone calls, meetings, letters.and emails. That is not intervention. I do not know who they are trying to fool by that. The parents know that the child is not getting intervention that he or she requires. While all of the interaction is required, it should not be counted as an intervention. Yes, parent training is an intervention that will help the child but other than that, it should not be the only thing. There should be more one-to-one interventions.
Another issue I want to raise is the hydrotherapy pool in the CDNT space in Enable Ireland in Cavan. It is not open to the children who are using the service. It has not been open to the children for years. I appreciate that some work was required last summer but it is now being rented out to private organisations because they have their trained attendant who can come and ensure safety at the pool. Parents have no issue with it being rented out to different groups where children need it, and it is a money raiser, but it is not open to the children because the management maintains that it does not have an attendant. When I engaged with the manager more than six months ago, she told me that the HSE had approved a business plan to employ someone but there is still no one employed. I do not how what is happening there but it really is an issue of frustration to them.
They need the one-on-one therapies for the children and they need the use of the pool. The CDNTs need to stop trying to fool people into thinking that there is more intervention with children than there is.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-16