Ireland Faces Shortage of Therapists in Education
The Minister for Education and the Minister for Special Education and Inclusion launched a recruitment campaign for therapists to work with children in schools. Under the Educational Therapy Support Service (ETSS), established in June 2024, 39 occupational and speech-language therapists, along with 5 behavior specialists, will be appointed to the National Council for Special Education on a permanent basis. Previously, these positions were only filled on a temporary basis, which made recruitment more challenging.
ETSS therapists will collaborate with teachers to design and implement educational interventions tailored to students’ diverse needs. For example, an occupational therapist and a teacher can explore ways to incorporate more movement into learning to support self-regulation, or a speech therapist can model evidence-based vocabulary strategies in the classroom.
This service complements the Health Service Executive's ongoing primary care and children’s disability network teams, which continue to offer one-on-one therapy sessions for children. ETSS staff will also support special schools, in addition to the government’s pilot program for in-school therapy, launched in August 2024 across 16 special schools in Dublin, Galway, and Cork. This innovative initiative aims to enhance access to education for students with varying needs.