The establishment of multidisciplinary teams in schools including speech and language and occupational therapists will be a “red line” issue for Fianna Fáil if the party is returned to government.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that he would “on day one” establish a new directorate in the Department of the Taoiseach “to co-ordinate activity across government” and drive forward implementation of the party’s plan to support people with disabilities, including multidisciplinary teams in schools.
Mr Martin said he wanted to take the lead in the launch “to make clear the priority we give to disability services if we are entrusted to lead the next government”.
He pointed to “resistance politically” from Government “department heads who wanted to do things differently” when during his term as taoiseach he brought the Departments of Health, Education and the Health Service Executive together to bring multidisciplinary teams into schools.
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“We got a commitment to expand therapists into schools from the HSE. The HSE didn’t deliver on that, bottom line,” despite recruiting some therapists.
“Their fear is that developing the education model delivery mechanism could take from the health service. My view is that we would attract many more therapists into providing services for children than the current system.”
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Minister of State Anne Rabbitte said they were “very clear” from the outset with the HSE that “we wanted therapists back in schools”. She said 8,800 children were attending special schools and a further 9,000 children in special classes and they had called on the HSE to start putting therapists back in the schools.
“So the dial change from within our manifesto here today is very, very clear. It’s a red-line issue.”
The 76-proposal plan includes an increase in third-level training places for speech and language and occupational therapy students. It will also increase investment in adult day services to €27 million a year. The party promises to put the disability support grant on a permanent footing and increase it incrementally to €1,000 a year.
Senator and Dublin South-Central candidate Catherine Ardagh called for a nationwide rollout of a one-stop shop for school applications, “a system that provides visibility on school availability, removes the administrative burden on parents and ensures no child is left without” a place.
She said “as a mother of a son with autism who is non-verbal, I know first-hand the daily struggles families face”. She said that “this week, many families, including my own, have received rejection letters to school places across the country. It’s frustrating, it’s heartbreaking ... it’s a reality that no family should have to face.”
She said that a pilot programme “has shown us that this approach works, and it’s time to expand it across the country”.
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