Disabilities Assessments

58. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the progress being made to provide alternatives to assessment of needs. [65850/26]

I ask for an update on assessments of need. There are now over 23,000 on the waiting list. This is not working for anybody, particularly families who are awaiting services and therapies. Since August, the autism assessment service has been up and running and the disability amendment Bill has been brought to Cabinet. I ask for an update on how this is going and how we can improve the circumstances for the children and families who need therapy.

I thank the Deputy for his question. I know my office followed up with his office to fully understand where he is coming from on this. I understand he wants an update on the autism assessment and intervention pathways protocol as well as assessment of need, AON, waiting lists. The autism assessment and intervention protocol is being implemented by the HSE and it will be the preferred assessment route for autism. It will provide a standardised assessment process across primary care, mental health and disability services. This may reduce reliance by parents on the assessment of need process as a means of acquiring a diagnosis. It is important to be aware that children who are managed through this pathway or children managed through any pathway retain their right to apply for an assessment of need. The protocol and assessments generally will be supported by the creation of 11 HSE in-reach teams, providing clinical guidance and administrative support to staff across the HSE services, delivering assessments and interventions to autistic people. Positions in these teams are currently being filled, with interviews being scheduled or offers being made to candidates from existing panels. It is anticipated and hoped that all 11 teams will be in place by the end of the year. As the Deputy said, there are huge challenges arising from this significant increase in demand for assessments of need in recent years and it is clear that change is needed. There has been progress in recent years with a noticeable increase in the number of completed applications. Over 5,900 assessment of need reports were completed last year, which was a 43% increase compared to the previous year. Over 3,343 assessment reports were completed in the first six months of this year. This improvement must continue at a rapid pace. As the Deputy mentioned, significant legislative and operational work is under way to improve the AON process and to reduce waiting times.

I suppose that information is the information that is available, even from the press release yesterday. I would like the Minister of State to get into some detail on what is being proposed in the legislation because we are talking about statutory guidelines that will standardise the assessment of need processes and procedures State-wide. The statutory guidelines will be used by the HSE to ensure consistency in how assessments are carried out across the State. I would like know how exactly this is going to happen because this is going to come on us very quickly. It is obviously about what exactly is meant by focusing on the needs of the child. Will the Minister of State also give the latest updated number for those who are on the waiting list for reassessment of need? At this point in time, it is a breach of the law where the State is meant to provide that assessment of need within six months and obviously that has not been happening. I can only assume what we are talking about now is from the point of view of trying to streamline. It is about seeing how that works and how this will improve the lot of those people who are on the waiting list and their families.

I thank the Deputy and all members of the Oireachtas committee who were involved in the joint Oireachtas committee, JOC, report on this. As the Deputy is aware, a Bill proposing targeted amendment of the Disability Act went before Cabinet yesterday. The disability (amendment) Bill 2026 will introduce changes to make the AON process more efficient, consistent, fair and transparent while maintaining a person's statutory right to an assessment. As the Deputy mentioned, this will come at us quite quickly because so much preparatory work has been done in this regard, both on the standardised guidelines that will underpin it but also through the work of the Deputy's JOC. We hope to have this in the House on Second Stage next week. I look forward to being able to discuss it with the Deputy more at that point.

Could we actually see the Bill as quickly as possible?

Yes.

Usually, I do not trust myself when I am doing a search online but I have not been able to see the wording of the Bill, so I ask that we ensure copies go out from that point of view.

We will.

I checked it with somebody else because I would never generally trust myself in my ability to search for documentation. Could I get the updated number of those on the waiting list for assessment of need at this point in time and over the six months? I accept the Minister of State is saying that people are not losing that statutory right so there is a need to deliver on that. I understand she will explain it more next week, but how will this streamlining process work in relation to AON? When will we see the offering of the autism intervention protocol and autism assessment service? When will that improve things and will it provide an alternative pathway so parents and those children can get the diagnosis required for getting the service they absolutely need?

The autism protocol was launched before the summer. Since then, HSE staff have been trained up in it so the anticipation is that this will be formally rolled out next month. We are waiting for a full update from the HSE in that regard, but I know a lot of work has gone into the training since then and the launch has put this into focus in terms of the specific figure the Deputy is looking for. The HSE reports that at the end of June, 23,282 children were overdue an assessment of need report within the statutory timeframe. Obviously, that is completely unacceptable and is something we are very committed to changing. That is why we are bringing in a number of reforms to change that. Part of that reform package will be the Bill coming before the House next month. The autism assessment and protocol will also be part of how we help address this, as well as single point of access which the HSE is rolling out to ensure there is no wrong door for families. We will also continue our wait-list initiative to ensure we are continuing to supplement our teams and CDNT teams by outsourcing to ensure we can get through those numbers as quickly as possible because it is totally unacceptable. I will point out that an assessment of need is not required to access services and the number on our waiting list for CDNT teams has reduced quite significantly in recent years. Therapies are being provided to many of those children which is very important.