Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon/Galway, Deputy Eugene Murphy, has highlighted that a figure in excess of 3,000 people are waiting for speech and language therapy in his constituency.
Figures recently obtained by Fianna Fáil show that nationally there are 37,229 people across the country waiting for speech and language therapy.
“As of June this year, 1,115 people in the CHO2 area are waiting for a first assessment, 666 are waiting for initial therapy and 1,482 people are on the list for further speech and language therapy.
“The HSE Service Plan has a target that no one should wait more than a year for assessment or initial treatment but so far in 2018 it hasn’t been met. In fact, according to these figures, 231 people in CHO2 area have been on a waiting list for over a year. Nationally, 2,696 people have been on a waiting list in excess of a year, while 282 are over two years waiting. The HSE also doesn’t have a target waiting time for those needing further therapy.
“While no specific age breakdown has been provided with these figures, we do know that the overwhelming majority of those waiting are children. This completely undermines the principle of early intervention. More speech and language therapists need to be recruited nationally to meet the demand for these services – it is vital that more therapists are made available,” concluded Deputy Murphy.
