‘Children should have equal access to therapy’

The need for equal access for all children with disabilities who need therapy services in school needs to be addressed urgently by the HSE, TDs and senators urged yesterday.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) outlined to the Oireachtas Education Committee how levels of access to speech and language, occupational therapy and other services vary widely in different parts of the country, often depending on the school or type of class a child attends.

The HSE is at various stages of implementing a new system under which those inconsistencies should be ruled out. But Senator Averil Power said it was unacceptable that some children cannot even get on waiting lists in the north Dublin area for a number of years.