About 46,000 young children have complex needs, often relating to slower development of speech and language faculties. Yet the Irish health service does not make adequate provision for early intervention.

Councillor Brid Smith from People Before Profit said,

‘We come across many parents who are worried sick by the failure of the state to provide the necessary resources for early intervention. The waiting list for speech and language therapists is so long that parents are being forced to go private – at great cost to themselves.

‘International research suggests that the case load for a speech and language therapist should lie somewhere between 30 and 65 cases.

‘In Ireland, however, the case load of Speech and Language therapists is way more than double this ratio. It amounts to an average of 162 cases per therapist.

‘Like every other aspect of our health service this under-provision helps to support a two tier system. Worried parents will tend to go private rather than wait for months and years to obtain an evaluation.

‘The cost of these private sessions amount to about €50 for a 40 minute session or €100 for an hour.

‘A decent government would have doubled the number of speech and language therapists to cut waiting lists. They would make early evaluation and intervention a priority.

‘But this government cares more about the lifestyle of bondholders and bankers. That is why they sacrifice the most vulnerable on their altar of greed.’

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Inequality still alive and well in Ireland with consultants due millions in compensation on top of inflated salaries

Inequality is on the rise still in this country despite the propaganda of the government. Reports have surfaced today stating that HSE consultants will be due millions in compensation because their already very large salaries were not paid at higher rate to encourage them to treat more public patients.

With the pay restoration coming in this month under the Lansdowne Road agreement consultants are set to get even more money.

People Before Profit spokesperson, Bríd Smith, said:

“This is an example of bald-faced inequality with these consultants winning a case in the Employment Appeals Tribunal where they are set to be paid for contracts that were agreed, by the then Minster for Health, Mary Harney, before the crisis. The majority of the instalments of this agreement have been paid already.

“We have major inequality in this country and it is still on the rise despite what the government spin machine would like you to believe. Today we have Bernardos saying that they are dealing with more children than ever before. The numbers of people considered to be the ‘working poor’ have sky rocketed. In 2015, one in seven people living in this state are living in consistent poverty. We have nearly 5,000 children homeless. We also have a serious issue in regards to the floods in the south and west of the country.

“Surely this money would be better off going towards alleviating the homelessness crisis or being invested in flood defences for the Shannon where we are seeing many people lose their homes and livelihoods.

“Instead, what we are seeing are consultants who are already on seriously inflated salaries, getting these salaries topped up. This is glaring inequality and demonstrates the serious issues of the gap between rich and poor in this country.”

Ends

Further information- Bríd Smith- 087 909 0166