Latest news with #DisabilityAct2005
BreakingNews.ie
11-08-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Over 16,500 children still waiting for disability assessments, HSE figures reveal
Over 16,500 children are waiting for Assessment of Need (AON) completion after the first half of this year, figures from the HSE have shown. A document seen by shows 16,593 children are waiting for AON completion after quarter two of 2025. Advertisement There have been 6,613 applications received to date in 2025, and 3,482 new applications in quarter two. That is a 25 per cent increase at the same stage last year. In Q2 2025, 12 per cent of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying Regulations. 1,516 AONs were completed in Q2 2025, a 53 per cent increase on the same period in 2024 of 992. The percentage of these AONs that show 'No Disability' has increased from 15.8 per cent in 2010 to 26 per cent in 2025. The HSE have said they could receive as many as 13,000 applications in 2025. Advertisement In the first half of 2025, 2,928 AONs have been completed. The HSE said this was down to increased funding to help with the backlog. Of the 16,593 children waiting for AON completion, 13,998 children are waiting over three months. This figure also includes 1,054 applications for which an extended time frame was negotiated with the parent on the grounds of there being exceptional circumstances. The area with the most children waiting is HSE Dublin and Midlands, which covers Dublin South City and West and Dublin South West, Kildare, West Wicklow, Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath. Advertisement In this area, 6,143 children are overdue for AON completion, with 5,469 waiting over three months. In HSE Dublin and North East, there are 5,204 children overdue for AON completion, with 4,386 waiting over three months. This area covers North Dublin, Louth, Meath, Monaghan and most areas of Cavan. In HSE Dublin and South East, which provides care to South-East Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and most areas of Wicklow, there are 2,524 children overdue AON completion. At HSE South West, providing care and services in Cork and Kerry, there are 1,359 children overdue for completion. 1,005 are waiting over three months. In HSE West and North West, which includes Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, West Cavan, Mayo, Galway and Roscommon, 916 children are waiting for AON completion. The HSE revealed 4,976 AONs have been commissioned from private providers/assessors from June 2024 to June 2025.
Belfast Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Health
- Belfast Telegraph
Teenager vows to ‘resist' any weakening of six-month timeframe for assessments
Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would 'vigorously resist any negative change' to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause 'further permanent damage to children'. The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Fein, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: 'My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. 'They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. 'Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future.' She said Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. 'Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed.' She added: 'Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. 'That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. 'It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer.' Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for 'Cara's Fund'.
Sunday World
11-06-2025
- Health
- Sunday World
Government has ‘systematically smashed' disability laws for children, teen tells Oireachtas
Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. Campaigner Cara Darmody staged a 50-hour protest against the backlog in the assessment of needs system (Liam McBurney/PA) The Government has "systematically smashed" disability laws on important checks for children, a teenage campaigner has told the Oireachtas. Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would "vigorously resist any negative change" to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause "further permanent damage to children". The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: "My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. "They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. "Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future." She said Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. Campaigner Cara Darmody staged a 50-hour protest against the backlog in the assessment of needs system (Liam McBurney/PA) News in 90 Seconds - June 11th "Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed." She added: "Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. "That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. "It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer." Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the Taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for "Cara's Fund".
Irish Independent
11-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
Government has ‘systematically smashed' disability laws for children, teen campaigner tells Oireachtas
Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would "vigorously resist any negative change" to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause "further permanent damage to children". The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: "My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. "They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. "Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future." She said Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. "Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed." She added: "Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. "That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. "It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer." Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the Taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for "Cara's Fund".
Irish Examiner
11-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Disability activist Cara Darmody claims law being broken as children 'left to rot' on waiting lists
A schoolgirl who has held protests outside the Dáil for better autism services has claimed the Government is "blatantly" breaking the law and "permanently damaging children". Cara Darmody, who recently held a 50-hour protest at the gates of Leinster House as part of her years-old campaign, told TDs children are being 'left to rot' on HSE waiting lists to get assessed. She said that an Assessment of Need (AoN) must be carried out within six months. Addressing an Oireachtas committee in the Dáil, she said in 93% of cases, children are assessed outside the six-month timeframe. Under the Disability Act 2005, the HSE is legally obliged to have a child's special needs assessed within six months but it has repeatedly failed to do this over the past 20 years. Among those affected by special needs resourcing issues are her two severely autistic brothers, Neil — a 12-year-old who was only formally diagnosed as autistic in December 2016 despite being referred by a public health nurse when he was aged around 16 months to local HSE child services as a child of concern — and John. Cara told members of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters: 'I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John. 'But I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future. Let's cut straight to the chase — I'm here today to call out the blatant Assessments of Needs law-breaking by the Taoiseach and the Government. 'Three different Taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed.' Cara, from Tipperary, raised this among other issues when she met Simon Harris when he was taoiseach last year on the first day of protest vigils she held outside the Dáil and the Taoiseach's Office last summer. The teenager met Micheál Martin in 2022 when he was taoiseach, and also lobbied him to put more resources into special needs assessments and therapies. Cara, who got 97% in her Junior Cert maths in 2022 to help raise awareness and €82,000 in funding for better services for autism locally and nationally, also lobbied Leo Varadkar, when he was taoiseach. Her father Mark told the committee that despite raising the issues with Mr Martin again recently and trying to get him to declare a national emergency on the lack of special needs assessments and therapies, he said: 'He doesn't buy into this emergency. He said it was just words.' He added: 'We are sleepwalking into a disaster." Read More Family of Clare boy killed by van challenge decision to bring no charges over death
