Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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10. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reasons for the delays in accessing augmentative and alternative communication through children’s disability network teams; what actions will be taken to speed this process up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43541/24]

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister address the reasons for the delays in accessing augmentative and alternative devices through children's disability network teams? What actions can or will be taken to speed up the process?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. In line with the progressing disability services model, 93 children’s disability network teams are aligned to 96 community healthcare networks across the country and provide services and supports for children from birth to 18 years of age. Part of services provided by CDNTs and primary care services includes assessment for, prescription, provision and training for children and families in the use of required assistive technologies, which include augmentative and alternative communication.

One of the 60 actions included in the HSE’s Roadmap for Service Improvement 2023–2026: Disability Services for Children and Young People is to review access to assistive devices to ensure consistency across all CHOs and CDNTs. In that regard, the Department and HSE are progressing work with WHO/Europe on a collaborative agreement on digital assistive technology. This partnership will include three core streams of work covering a review of Ireland’s assistive technology capacity through a multi-stakeholder approach and development of an assistive products list, the development of workforce optimisation initiatives using digital tools focusing on assessments and intervention, and progressing two global DAT-workforce expos, with the first hosted by Ireland in 2026.

While this is under way, the HSE is funding AsIAm to help this organisation administer the AAC programme communication devices, which include tablets and other electronic devices provided to people with autism to support their communication needs. The HSE has committed €1 million to AsIAm to be allocated to programme running costs, including staff recruitment, software utilisation costs and procurement of an estimated 511 AAC devices such as tablets. The next phase of implementation follows the completion of consultation, procurement and recruitment processes to support the operational phase of delivery.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister. As an example, I was recently contacted by a parent whose eldest son is autistic and whose younger son has just been diagnosed as autistic. She is familiar with the needs of her children and describes her younger son as pre-verbal. He needs support now. She has contacted the CDNT about getting him the support he needs prior to him starting school, because it is going to make such a difference. She keeps being put off and told she needs to take this course or another course, that those courses are full and she will be fitted in next year. She is just seeing the days, weeks and months slipping by as her child does not get the support he requires because the CDNT keeps telling her she cannot be included on these courses. She then heard, quite upsettingly, that one of the courses is not even full, but she is still not being offered a place on it because she has to do another course prior to that. She says she has undertaken so many of these courses already that she knows much of the setting up of the device is left to the parent anyway, so she finds this really frustrating.

I am aware AsIAm is working with the Department and going to pilot a scheme. I will come back to that.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. I can absolutely understand the frustration there, especially if her constituent is hearing the course is not full. That is hugely frustrating. Maybe the Deputy could drop a note to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and me and we could look to follow it up with the CHO to get some clarification and ensure this person is able to avail of the course as quickly as possible. Having met children, young people and parents in my constituency, I have seen the huge advantages assistive technology can bring and the huge supports it brings to children, their parents and maybe a wider school community as well through its use in ASD classes or special schools. That is why the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has undertaken this international piece of work trying to work with the World Health Organization on really mainstreaming assistive technology and letting Ireland be a pilot location for the roll-out of the best supports that are available.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister has mentioned AsIAm and the pilot programme. Adam Harris and another young person were before the committee last week and they referenced the delay in accessing devices for children who need them and that their organisation would be rolling out a pilot programme. That is fantastic. The organisation does fantastic work. I also commend CAPS in my area for the fantastic work it does. A point made to me by a person in CAPS is the HSE is frequently referring children to it for supports and services, yet the group gets absolutely no support. That is unfair because it is a charitable organisation and requires support.

On devices and speedy access to them, there needs to be better joined-up thinking between the schools and the Department of Education and the Department of disability. We were talking about putting therapists back into special schools, but we need to roll out more therapists into other schools, because otherwise we are going to have parents sending children to special schools because there is access to therapists there when they might have been fine in a mainstream school if they had been getting the supports there. The devices are going to be required both at home and in school, so there needs to be a much better connection between the two.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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That point about integration between health supports health supports provided through my Department and the HSE and education supports provided through the Department of Education and the NCSE is very important. What I have seen in the new Cabinet committee on children and education and disability is we have those opportunities to ensure we are able to address the gaps which results in children falling between two stools. One of the things I have been able to do concerns the data my Department has about the number of children who have AIM support in an area, which is early intervention in preschool. That data was not going to the NCSE or the HSE and it is a really important pointer. There are maybe 30 kids in Blanchardstown who get AIM-level support. Many of those are probably going to need an ASD class or indeed a special school when they move on to primary school. That information was not being exchanged and it is now. We have put in place a data exchange agreement and, because we are bringing the two Departments closer together, we are seeing where those gaps are. In that case it was to do with information, but we can do it with access to assistive technology as well.