Pádraig Rice: 1,200 Children Waiting Two Years for Therapy
Pádraig Rice challenges the Taoiseach over a worsening crisis in primary care for children, highlighting a 149% rise in children waiting more than two years for an initial speech and language therapy assessment. He warns that nearly 7,000 children wait for their first speech and language session and demands urgent government action.
The crisis in numbers
Pádraig Rice sets out the figures released to him: in 11 months the number of children waiting over two years for an initial speech and language assessment rose by 149%. He states there are now 1,200 children waiting more than two years and almost 7,000 children waiting for their first session, with nearly 2,500 waiting over a year.
Government response outlined
Rice records the Taoiseach’s response that the government is recruiting more therapists, changing the assessment process to prioritise therapy provision, and creating a new school-based therapy service. The initial phase will place therapists in special schools, with a planned extension into mainstream schools.
Consequences for families and children
Rice emphasises the impact on families already under pressure and warns that delayed access to speech and language therapy risks children falling behind and being denied the chance to reach their full potential. He presses the government for clarity on how it will address long waiting lists and speed up therapy delivery.
What to watch for
The address focuses on primary care bottlenecks, health service capacity and plans for in-school therapy. Viewers will hear both the criticism of current performance and the government’s proposed steps to recruit therapists and reconfigure services to deliver more regular, school-based therapy.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Taoiseach, right across the country people are being pushed to the pin of their collar. They are struggling to pay for basics like food and fuel, but they are also struggling because of the government's inability to provide basic health services. And this is most evident in the dire state of primary care services for children. Figures released to me show that in just 11 months, the number of children waiting more than two years for an initial speech and language therapy assessment has risen by an alarming 149%. There are now 1,200 children languishing on the waiting list for over two years. And even once assessed, these children just moved straight from one waiting list to another, this time for their first speech and language session. At the end of February, nearly 7,000 children were waiting for their first speech and language therapy session. Over a third of them, almost 2,500, waiting over a year. Taoiseach, this is indefensible. Decent health care services for children shouldn't be too much to ask for. Families are under enough pressure. They shouldn't have to watch their children fall behind, denied the opportunity to reach their full potential. So Taoiseach, what is the government going to do to address this crisis in our primary health care services? We're doing a number of things. First of all, we're recruiting more therapists. Secondly, we're changing the system because there are too many therapists involved in the assessment of need process and not enough in the provision of therapy services. And thirdly, we're creating a new school-based therapy service, starting with special schools where there will be speech and language therapists, occupational therapists in the special schools. And we will extend that into mainstream as we progress. The Minister for Education received funding this year from government with a view to implementing the in-school therapy service in our special schools, and we hope that can conclude the first phase of that in the next school year. And that is our commitment to do it, to build that up. I think that's going to be key because that would have regular interaction between children, particularly with particular needs, maybe more severe, on a regular basis with speech and language therapy.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
