2025-12-18

96. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the engagement there has been with the Department of Education and Youth on the autism protocol to ensure that assessments of need are not required for school places; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72980/25]

What engagement has there been with the Department of Education and Youth? There are proposals around the autism protocol. We spoke earlier about the very specific proposal to remove the requirement for an assessment of need in order for a child to find an appropriate school place, whether that is in a special class, in a mainstream setting with supports or in a special school. There has been huge unease among the teaching unions and others in relation to who will make this assessment. It is very important that we bring clarity to this particular case. We all want to see streamlining of the assessment of need process. I have always said I have no particular issue with that, but clarity is needed at this time.

The Government absolutely recognises there are unacceptable delays in accessing assessments of need. My Department and the HSE are committed to addressing these delays. Under the Disability Act, an assessment of need is an assessment process carried out by the HSE where a person is of the opinion that he or she may have a disability for anyone born after 1 June 2002. It first establishes whether the person has a disability as defined within the Act and then identifies the health and education needs of the person with the disability and the service required to meet those needs. As the Deputy said, last week the Government announced a series of reforms to the assessment of need process which will make the process more effective and efficient for children and families, and will move towards more assessments being delivered within the six-month statutory timeframe. These reforms include changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act, which provides for assessments of need. The general scheme of the disability (amendment) Bill 2025 was approved by the Government on 9 December and will be published on the Department’s website shortly. It is important to say these changes will not remove any rights for parents to apply for an assessment of need for their child, nor will they alter the statutory six-month timeline set out in the Disability Act. Turning to access to treatment and therapies, I must emphasise that children do not require an assessment of need to access health services including primary care, children’s disability network teams, CDNTs, or mental health services. However, it is recognised that there can be delays for children and families in getting access to the treatments and therapies they need. Children can be on a number of different waiting lists which can cause confusion for families. In 2026 the HSE will introduce a single point of access system, which will make it easier for families to be referred to the right service whether that is a CDNT, primary care, or a child and adolescent mental health team. The recruitment of staff across the disability sector continues to be a key priority in ensuring children can access therapies in a timely manner. An intensive focus of my Department has been on increasing the staffing of CDNTs that deliver supports and services to children with complex needs. My Department has been in discussions with the Department of education on the need to phase out the requirement for an assessment of need to access special education class or school.

Will the Minister of State give some detail on what that engagement has been? I get that it is the early stages but unfortunately it has led to some unease. We all accept there are huge issues in relation to those who have been on the assessment of need waiting list. None of it has been great for the families and children. People are looking for adequate and correct therapies and supports. I have heard many times that the Department does not require an assessment of need to deliver supports and therapies, but unfortunately parents operate in a slightly different world and at this time the schools require assessments of need. While that is being dealt with, we need clarity. As I said, I have no particular issue if we are accepting that 45% of those who go through assessments of need have autism and if we can find the means whereby people can get a proper assessment in relation to autism and then can get the therapies. However, I ask again about recruitment as we try to recruit to the CDNTs and directly to schools and these new teams. Can the Minister of State go into the detail of how things will change in these things given the huge amount of work and the huge cohort they have to deal with?

That statistic that 45% of children who go through the assessment of need process receive a diagnosis of autism is absolutely correct. For that reason the HSE is standing up a new autism assessment and protocol process in order to be able to respond to emerging need in this area. We hope that from January, but definitely from the first quarter of next year, children who are displaying autistic traits will be referred into the new HSE autism protocol and assessment process. That will absolutely help. It will provide them with specific interventions that will be most appropriate to them. That is a really welcome development. I thank the HSE for its hard work and its engagement with my Department on this. Part of what was announced last week was a six-pronged approach. We have the heads of the Bill. Decisions are being communicated earlier to parents. There is a single point of access. There is the autism protocol and assessment. We also have recruitment in our own CDNTs. We are recruiting at the moment and will be recruiting another 150 staff next year. Throughout the disability service we will recruit 1,000 people next year and we are also outsourcing assessments of need. Education is the other element of that. The Minister for education will come back to the Cabinet committee on disability in the first quarter of next year with formulated proposals on that issue.

If we are talking about the first quarter for the education piece, it could be as far away as March before we have clarity on it. It needs to happen as soon as possible. When will we see delivery on the single point of access? I think Bernard Gloster said that those who have the best things to say about the CDNTs are those who have a contact person they can engage with because then they know the ins and outs. That is where some of this falls apart. Sometimes there needs to be a straight conversation about supports and about the future trajectory for children and parents. When that is lacking, obviously it does not work. The Minister of State is saying that in January or at least some point in the first quarter of next year, the autism protocol will operate. As that waiting list becomes populated, will we have capacity to deliver on it? Will the new teams ensure there is a greater level of communication? As I have said before, I am worried about recruiting to all the bodies need to recruit to. Will they be able to deal with the huge cohort that are on the waiting list now and the parents who have suffered because they did not have the supports they should have?

A short response from the Minister of State.

Taking cognisance of the Chair I will give a short response. Our in-reach teams will support the HSE's new model and will work to ensure there is more joined-up thinking between primary care, CAMHS and our CDNTs. Each team will consist of a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and an administration person. Part of the reason we have an administration person is because some of the feedback we have received from parents is around communication. This person will assist with that from a caseload management perspective. We will be standing up 11 teams in 2026 and a further nine teams in 2027. That will be 20 teams, which will be one team per regional health organisation.

I thank the Minister of State. That concludes questions to the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality.

Happy Christmas from all of us. Thank you for everything.

I wish the Minister and the Minister of State and their officials a happy Christmas.