I welcome the Minister of State to the House.

I thank the Minister of State for attending this morning. I wish to say "Hello" to my next door neighbour colleague from home, just across the border in Galway, the Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte. I appreciate how she really makes an effort to come when we ask her to deal with some of these issues and tries to solve them for us. It is appreciated by me and other people. I know she does not have a magic wand but, by golly, she tries, and that is appreciated.

I wish to take her on a little journey. We will call the boy Dáithí and he attends St. Anne’s National School in Castlerea, County Roscommon. Dáithí was diagnosed with autism in early 2021. He was observed by a speech and language therapist early last year at his school. His parents brought him to it for an individual appointment with the therapist in June 2023. On leaving that appointment, they were of the impression from the therapist that she would be in contact to observe Dáithí in his home environment. His parents tell me that since then, they have heard nothing.

At the end of November 2023, they made contact with the early intervention services for Roscommon as to see what was happening with the therapist. They were informed that no therapist was available and the person they contacted could not tell them if one would be available in the future.

Since Christmas, they have made contact again. There is no therapist available and probably will not be in the near future. I have spoken to staff in the HSE and can confirm that. They have spoken to the school principal and she informed them that along with Dáithí, there is a large number of children with special needs in the school-----

Has the Senator changed the person’s name? We are not allowed to identify a person.

I am only using the Christian name.

Did the Senator get permission to use their name?

Yes, full permission. I have it written on my laptop if anyone wishes to see it.

Okay. It is just the rules of the House; it is not me.

That is fine. Now, where am I? My train of thought is gone.

There are a large number of children with special needs in this school awaiting this service, which we all have to agree is unacceptable at this day and age.

Dáithí will be six years old in March, in a few weeks. His parents say that watching him make an effort to talk to his parents, siblings and grandparents is soul-destroying. He gets upset, annoyed and anxious - I have witnessed this in other cases as well - when he is not able to express and tell them what he wants. Parents know the situation here. If Dáithí got the help he needs, his parents think he would change.

Not only Dáithí but all children in his situation deserve that chance. His parents feel let down and that he should be getting this help. It is a long time since last June.

I am asking the Minister of State to look at this case to see whether the vacant position can be filled. The person who previously had that role moved on to something else. My understanding, which the Minister of State can correct if I am wrong, is that another person was going to take the position but decided not to at the last minute. The problem is not that the money is not there but there seemingly is some problem with filling the vacancy. It is really distressing for children like Dáithí and many others. I know the Minister of State will put her heart and soul into addressing this issue. I do not know what information she can give me this morning but we must do everything we can to sort this out for those children and their parents.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte.

I thank Senator Murphy for raising this important issue. As Minister of State with responsibility in this matter, I wish to be completely clear that the development of any child with a disability to reach his or her full potential remains a matter of utmost importance to the Government. I am committed to further developing and enhancing our children's disability services through the implementation of the progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap for service improvement.

I acknowledge the difficulty facing children and young people with disabilities, and the frustration borne by their families, as the Senator clearly articulated, in accessing the appropriate therapists to provide the necessary supports they require due to vacancies in our health service. I assure the House of my determination to address these issues. Currently, there are ongoing challenges in the recruitment and retention of staff across the whole healthcare sector, particularly the therapy professionals required in children's disability services. This national issue is mirrored by a global shortage of healthcare professionals. The 2022 children's disability network team, CDNT, staff census notes an average vacancy rate of 34% across the nine community healthcare organisations, CHOs. In Roscommon, as per the data available at the end of 2023, the vacancy rate is exactly 34%, with ten whole-time equivalent, WTE, vacancies and a caseload of 770 children.

I assure the Senator that the HSE's national recruitment division will continue to explore a range of options to enhance the recruitment and retention of staff to CDNTs. The HSE's "Be part of our team, be part of their lives" campaign, launched in December and January, is the first nationwide CDNT campaign focusing on the recruitment of dietitians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, social workers and speech and language therapists. The campaign has been very successful, with 500 offers received. The HSE is going through those offers and the plan is to get back to people by mid-February, with the first round of interviews to be held by 1 March. That is a really positive step. It is important to note that while there is currently a recruitment embargo in the HSE, there is no embargo within disability services. However, there may sometimes be some misunderstanding or issues in this regard. Last week, I met all the disability managers right across the country, in some cases along with their colleagues, the chief officers. It was identified at that meeting, where we talked about assessments of need, AONs, that some CDNTs have not received a derogation or approval for recruitment. I am meeting the CEO of the HSE, Mr. Bernard Gloster, later today. I will ask him to sign off immediately on a derogation for the recruitment of 150 staff to fill the vacancies in CDNTs.

Under the PDS roadmap, a suite of measures is being progressed to enhance the recruitment and retention of staff, including targeted national and international recruitment of qualified personnel, completing new administrative grades recruitment to minimise the administrative burden on staff and optimise the time available for therapeutic interventions, and an expansion of therapy assistants in the system, with the HSE supporting individuals to return to education to qualify as therapists. The latter is a huge pillar of our newly launched PDS roadmap. Over the next two years, we hope to recruit 250 assistant therapists. In Dáithí's case, or that of any other child, where the speech and language therapist has drawn up a programme, the child will be supported by the assistant therapist, whether that be the occupational therapist, physiotherapist or speech and language therapist. In addition, as I discussed with Senator Carrigy yesterday, I am looking at implementing centre-based approaches in the community. This would involve hubs, which are not part of the CDNTs, providing workshops for families, peer-to-peer support for young people and proper signposting of services.

The Senator's straight question demands a straight answer. I will, of course, take part in such a meeting, if he wants to set it up. Only last week, in Sixmilebridge, I met the staff of two mainstream schools, including special educational needs organisers, special needs assistants and principals, along with colleagues from the HSE. We had a really good, frank discussion on how we can best support the children, most importantly, and their families. If I can help in any way in supporting that, I will do so.

I thank the Minister of State.