Wicklow TD Says Waiting List Figures For Therapy Services In Wicklow And Kildare Unacceptable

Latest figures show that almost a thousand people in Wicklow and Kildare are waiting for services in either speech and language therapy, occupational therapy or physiotherapy.

The figures obtained by Fianna Fail also show that nationally, more than 100,000 people were on waiting lists in February of this year. 

However the party’s spokesperson on Health, Wicklow T.D. Stephen Donnelly says the data doesn’t reveal the full facts, as the occupational therapy and physiotherapy figures only show the numbers waiting for assessment – not for actual therapy.

As part of Budget 2019, the government announced the recruitment of 100 therapists this year but Deputy Donnelly says the best case scenario is that just 50 of these will be in place by September, which he says is not acceptable