I wish to declare an interest in that one of my daughters, Siobhán, who is now seven, is a child with special needs and attends a special class in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. The class was set up on the personal intervention of the Minister for Education and I acknowledge that. I also acknowledge her continuing interest in and commitment to developing the necessary support services to assist children such as Siobhán.
Over the past 12 months, it has become apparent to me, as a parent as much as a public reapresentative, that there is a severe lack of necessary support services for children such as Siobhán and for classes such as the one she attends, specifically in the areas of language therapy and psychological support. Further investigation on my part revealed that the services, such as they are, are provided by the health board and the Department of Education only has a peripheral role. There is a small, limited number of psychologists in the primary school system.
I wrote to the Minister for Education last autumn asking if her Department intended addressing the problem of poor resources and lack of personnel in this area. Her reply indicated she was aware of the problem and that she was setting up an interdepartmental committee to investigate this aspect of support services for children with special needs and other related matters.
It is now some four or five months since that correspondence. As there is still a deficit in this area, I am anxious the matter should be kept in the public domain. I raised the matter on the Adjournment to show that it will not go away, that there is a problem in this area and that the best efforts of the health board are not sufficient to provide these children with the support services necessary to help them develop as full individuals. I would be grateful for any further information the Minister of State may have. I hope it can go some way towards providing the necessary resources in the area of language therapy and child psychologists.