An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

We would agree with that, actually, and that is why we are amending the legislation pertaining to assessments of need and are also making sure an assessment of need is not a prerequisite for a school placement, either in a special class or in a different context in the school. That flexibility should be there. Our aim is to try to get the therapies and the therapists providing the services. At the moment, because of High Court decisions and so on in the past, the pendulum has swung to assessment and not enough to delivering the services for children who require them. Most parents want services as quickly as possible for their child.
There has been progress made on CDNTs but not enough, and that is a structure that was historically challenging. We have an in-school therapy service in place now. If I am correct, 61 schools will see that in-school therapy service initially. Recruitment is under way and that will build up over time, so that every special school will have a therapy service. Then we will expand that service to the mainstream.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29