16-05-2025
Opposition table joint motion as over 15K children overdue Assessment of Needs
Over 15,000 children are awaiting an Assessment of Need required to access services and therapies.
The five main opposition parties will table a motion in the Dáil next week to put pressure on the Government to provide these services.
An Assessment of Need (AON) identifies whether a child has a disability, the nature and extent of the disability, and any health and education needs that may arise.
Under law, once the HSE receives an application in writing, they must start the assessment within three months and complete it within an additional three months.
Details from the HSE given to Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane confirmed that the number of AONs overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296.
This represents an increase of 8% on the end 2024 figure of 14,221.
Some 1,412 AONs were completed in the first quarter of 2025, a 65% increase on the same period in 2024 of 849.
The HSE stated that the percentage of these AONs that show 'No Disability' has increased from 15.8% in 2010 to 26% in Q1 2025.
They also confirmed to Deputy Kerrane that 3,131 new applications were received in the first three months of the year, a 20% increase on the figure for the same period last year of 2,603.
The HSE told Ms Kerrane that a March 2022 High Court case stated that the HSE's AON checks were not meeting the standard required under the Disabilities Act, and it is now required to deliver diagnostic assessments where necessary.
Tipperary teenager and disabilities campaigner Cara Darmody will begin a 50-hour protest outside the Dáil next week.
In an unusual move, Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and Independent Ireland have tabled a joint motion which will be debated in the Dáil next Tuesday to coincide with the protest.
The motion states that children are 'legally entitled to an assessment of their health and education needs' within six months and that 'the law is being broken with respect to the 15,296 children whose assessment of need is overdue'.
It calls on the Government to 'comply with its legal obligations' and to make funding available for 'Cara's Fund' to clear the backlog.
The opposition has also called on the Government to 'set a specific target date by which the Government aims to comply with the legal entitlement to an Assessment of Need under the Disability Act 2005'.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that children have been 'scandalously left waiting for services and support'
Deputy Kerrane, meanwhile, stated that there has been a 'frightening increase in the waiting list for Assessment of Needs from 500 in the summer of 2021 to over 15,000 now'.
She added: 'Worryingly, the HSE anticipates that this will only get worse and expects that by the end of 2025, there could be as many as 24,796 assessments of need due for completion.
'It is clear that the government still does not have a plan to stop the state from breaking the law and to ensure that children get their assessment of needs within six months.'
