The Health Service Executive has postponed plans to relocate a service for children with complex disabilities in the Connemara Gaeltacht due to difficulties in guaranteeing that all staff can speak Irish.
Parents of the children who would benefit from the service have expressed alarm at the move and called for a review.
The Springtime early intervention service run by the HSE, Enable Ireland and Brothers of Charity provides assessment and intervention to children with complex disabilities from birth to six years.
Some 46 children from south and west Connemara had been availing of the service, based since 2009 in the former primary school in An Spidéal.
However, negotiations began on transferring to the newer premises at Ionad Tacaíochta Teaghlaigh (ITT) in Indreabhán because the lease in An Spidéal was due to expire at the end of March.
The top floor of the ITT community centre was regarded as more suitable for extending the supports to children up to 18 years of age.
The building cost about €3 million, with a development grant from the Department of the Gaeltacht.
The local committee, Comharchumann Shailearna, says one stipulation of the department’s grant-aid was that the Irish language must be used.
It currently provides pre- school and early learning activities through Irish.
Irish obligation
Under the Official Languages Act 2003, the HSE is obliged to offer services through the first language. It was found in breach of the legislation in 2012 due to its handling of correspondence in relation to a medical card application.
While the Comharchumann Shailearna said it could not comment officially on the issue, it did say it had not expected all staff attached to the service to be fluent in Irish, given the importance of providing the vital supports.
“We were told that three of 19 staff would have Irish, with two being fluent, and we asked if the other staff might be able to have some Irish,even ‘Dia dhuit’,”a committee spokesman said.
Native speakers
However, the HSE said that currently over half of the team members based in An Spidéal are “native Irish speakers and all but one member can communicate to some level in Irish”.
The individual has enrolled for Irish language classes, and “any family who wishes to have their service delivered through the Irish language is facilitated to do so”.
The HSE said it received “formal notification from ITT” that it was “not going to continue discussions around accommodation”, however.
It said it was now in negotiation with Educena, the board responsible for the primary school in An Spidéal, on extending the existing accommodation.
Parents of children who benefit from the resources, including occupational therapy and physiotherapy, expressed upset at the meeting in Indreabhán on Monday night and asked local politicians to intervene.
One parent pointed out that some of the children who use the services are not verbal in either English or Irish, and feared the loss of the resource.
The primary school in An Spidéal is an old building, and windows are “frequently broken”, one parent noted.
