Carol Nolan demands urgent action on therapy wait times
Carol Nolan addressed the minister about lengthy wait times for speech and language and occupational therapy for children with disabilities, calling the current delays totally unacceptable and urging urgent action. She said parents are forced to fight "tooth and nail", cited a seven-year-old who never received a single speech session, and demanded that recruitment of therapists be made a top priority.
Immediate concerns
Carol Nolan described wait times for children needing speech and language therapy and occupational therapy as "totally unacceptable" and horrendous for families. She told the minister that parents face relentless barriers when trying to access these basic services.
Local impact in Leash Offaly
The deputy said therapies in her constituency of Leash Offaly are virtually non-existent and that her constituency offices are inundated with calls from desperate, upset and frustrated parents. She recounted a seven-year-old child with profound disabilities who never received one single session of speech therapy.
Calls for recruitment and urgency
She called for urgent recruitment of speech and language therapists and occupational therapists and asked that this recruitment be given top priority. Nolan stressed the need for early intervention and support through school teams so children can reach their educational potential.
Legal implications and assessment of need
Nolan criticised the state's handling of the assessment of need process and described the High Court judgment referred to in the motion as staggering. She said the process adopted by the Health Service Executive was causing assessment officers to err in law, and noted that the HSC do not intend to appeal the High Court case and that the HSC is in breach.
Longstanding problem and parliamentary history
The deputy said the crisis has gone on for years and reminded colleagues she raised the same issues when newly elected in 2016. She warned that without prompt action the barriers to therapy access will continue to deny children the vital support they need.
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Minister, I'd just like to start off by saying that the wait times for children who need, who have disabilities and who need access to therapy such as speech and language therapy and occupational therapy is totally unacceptable. It is also horrendous that parents have to fight tooth and nail for these basic essential services. We have a very, very serious problem in this state and I know in my own constituency of Leash Offaly the therapies are virtually non-existent. I'm aware of a seven-year-old child who never received one single session of speech therapy and it's absolutely shocking and this is a child with profound disabilities. I'm just asking for something to be done here fast, for urgency to be applied to this unacceptable crisis, particularly in Leash Offaly. I'm asking for the recruitment of speech and language therapists and occupational therapists to be given top priority because this has gone on for years. I remember being here as a newly elected TD in 2016 and raising these same issues. My offices across Leash and Offaly are inundated with calls from desperate, upset and frustrated parents who seem to encounter barrier after barrier when it comes to accessing speech therapy and occupational therapy I think there is a terrible barriers. I think there is a terrible amount of barriers that need to be overcome. These parents need assistance, these children need assistance because they cannot reach their educational potentials if they are not given that support, that vital, basic and necessary support when they are young children in the system through early intervention or through the school teams, the school age teams. I think there is a compelling indictment on the integrity of the state's capacity to even understand what its legal obligations were and are with respect to the assessment of need process. The High Court judgment referred to in the motion is staggering in its implications when you consider that the process adopted by the Health Service Executive was causing its assessment officers to err in law and that HSC do not intend to appeal the High Court case and that the HSC is in breach. The High Court judgment of the rights of the rights of children with disabilities.
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