A total of 4,032 children in Galway are awaiting some level of speech and language therapy, with needs ranging from initial assessment to further therapy.
The figures come from the HSE and show that across the State, 41,055 children are currently waiting on some form of treatment. In Galway, the figures break down as 1,214 children waiting on initial assessment; 739 waiting on initial therapy; and 2,079 waiting on further therapy.
Sinn Féin Galway West TD, Mairéad Farrell [pictured below] has called the figures "worrying" and "unacceptable", and she has called on the Government to put together a plan to address the backlog. “Early intervention is critical to a child’s development," she said.
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Children not getting appropriate treatment
Dep Farrell said a child at six-years-old child could be waiting two years to get an initial assessment, and by the time they reach eight, they could be waiting a further two years to get some initial speech and language therapy. She said that according to the figures, the child could be 10 or 11 before they receive the "vital further treatment that they need".
“Children are being moved from list to list and not getting the appropriate treatment at the appropriate time," she said. "This is having a severe impact on their development and is curtailing children’s future growth."
Dep Farrell also noted how, in some areas, physiotherapists, and occupational and speech and language therapists were redeployed as Covid swabbers and contact tracers, resulting in a complete loss in services. “It would have made more sense to use non-frontline staff," she said, "or one of the more than 60,000 people who volunteered for 'Ireland’s Call' to work as Covid swabbers and contact tracers."
