Cork schools still waiting to find out if they are part of pilot scheme for therapists

With just over two weeks to go to the re-opening of schools after the summer holidays, special schools in Cork are waiting to find out if they are one of four schools in the county to be selected to participate in a pilot scheme that will see therapists recruited for their school for the first time since the onset of the covid pandemic in 2020.

The Cork schools were not named in the statement which comes days after a story in The Echo highlighted the two year wait St. Killian’s Special School on Cork’s northside, as well as other similar schools in Cork, have had to endure while waiting for restoration of therapists to special schools after they were withdrawn at the outset of the covid pandemic in 2020.

And in a follow up response to a query from The Echo, a Department spokesperson said the Cork and Dublin schools selected to participate in the pilot scheme were ‘not available at this time’ and the Principal of St. Killian’s School, Sue Lenihan, told The Echo that that she ‘really hoped’ the school would be included in the pilot scheme.

The Minister for State at the Department, Anne Rabbitte, had announced in September 2022 that the HSE had announced a process ‘to reinstate the health and social care supports in special schools they previously had been provided’.

In a statement from DCEDIY issued late on Friday afternoon, it confirmed that the programme of delivery of in school therapy supports would commence this September in selected schools and would run for the 2024/25 academic year.

Childrens’ Minister Roderic O’Gorman said that the announcement was being made ‘with the clear expectation that children attending the special schools will see an increase in therapy hours delivered, ensuring the best outcomes for children’.

“Importantly, they will be supported to ensure both their educational needs and needs beyond education are met with the expertise of the appropriate service providers,” said Minister O’Gorman.

Minister Rabbitte expressed her delight that the Government was supporting what she described as ‘this extremely important initiative’.

“In-school therapies is an area I have been working on improving over a number of years through the HSE and I have also engaged significantly with parents and Special Schools principals in particular on the issue,” said Minister Rabbitte.

The announcement has been given a cautious welcome by Sinn Féin Cork North Central TD, Thomas Gould, who said that he was very frustrated that it ‘took this long to get to this point’. The SF TD did characterize the refusal to name the Cork schools which have been selected to participate in the scheme as ‘a particularly unfair kite to fly’.

“The government announced this without even speaking to the schools concerned and every special school in Cork now will be holding their breath hoping that they receive a call from the Department letting them know they’ve been chosen. That is no way to deliver services for vulnerable children. We are only two weeks out from the reopening of schools, this is a short period of time to employ people in.

“I want to commend the tireless work of principals, teachers, the broader school communities and especially parents who have not let this go.” The TD also paid tribute to the coverage of the issue in The Echo and other local media for supporting ‘the parents and school communities in keeping the pressure on this’.