Disabilities Assessments

66. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children on the waiting list for an assessment of need in counties Cavan and Monaghan, by county; and the number waiting more than three, six and 12 months. [65953/26]

I return to assessment of need, specifically in my constituency, to ask for details of the number of children currently on the waiting list for an assessment of need in those counties, and the numbers waiting for more than three, six and 12 months.

The Department and the HSE are working intensively to address delays in the provision of assessments of need to children and their families. There has been significant increase in demand for assessment of need in recent years. Applications have risen from 4,700 in 2020 to over 13,000 in 2025. That reflects both the increase in population and the number of families exploring all options to access services for their child. Unfortunately, demand has outpaced the capacity of our system to respond. While the HSE does not provide assessment of need data by county, data is provided by regional health area and local health office, so I am able to give the Deputy specifics for Cavan and Monaghan. The most recent data for Cavan-Monaghan LHO is for quarter 2 of 2026 and shows that 634 applications were overdue for completion at the end of June. Of these, 543 were overdue for more than three months. Up to June of this year, 123 assessment of need applications were received in Cavan and Monaghan for 2026. It is clear that change is needed, not just in Cavan-Monaghan but across the country. There has been progress over the past two years with a notable increase in the number of completed applications. Over 5,900 AON reports were completed in 2025, a 43% increase compared with the year previous. Some 3,043 assessment reports were completed in the first six months of 2026. This improvement must continue. Significant legislative and operational work continues to improve the AON process and over time will reduce waiting times. This includes continuation of the targeted waitlist initiative, improved training and guidelines for assessment officers and the targeted amendment of the Disability (Amendment) Bill, which was brought to Cabinet this week, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the AON process.

I hope the Minister of State's voice gets better soon. I know it is difficult when one is in this position with a sore throat. However, I have to say that regardless of the tone in which she is able to deliver it, her answer is incredibly worrying on a number of fronts. First of all, there is now a backtracking. I have a parliamentary question response from the HSE in January where I was given county-specific data. Now, the Minister of State is telling me the HSE does not provide that. Again, there are difficulties in the response with the fact that this Government is breaking the law by failing to provide children with assessments of need they are legally entitled to, within the timeframe they are legally entitled to. Yet, the information the Minister of State is providing in response to that is becoming more limited and restricted. In the first instance, I ask her to get a handle on that. Second, the numbers she has cited from January to now - the most recent figures - suggest to me that there is an increase from 509 children who are waiting for a stage 2 assessment, to over 600. Is that true? Are there more children currently waiting more than a year for assessment of need in Cavan and Monaghan than was the case at the beginning of this year.

The information I have provided the Deputy is the Cavan and Monaghan figures combined. It shows that 634 applications were overdue for completion at the end of June this year. That is the figure up to the end of June. Of these, 543 were overdue for more than three months. That is the data the HSE has provided to me. Applications received in quarter 1 and quarter 2 this year for Cavan and Monaghan combined are 123. Those 634 applications are the data up to the end of June. That includes the 123 applications received this year but if we are talking about those overdue for completion at the end of June, the figure is 634. That is the information. It is provided by regional health area and local health office area. That is the Cavan-Monaghan combined figure.

To be clear, this is an important point. I asked, through a parliamentary question, as is my constitutional right, for the assessment of need number in Cavan and Monaghan, by county. The Minister of State is telling me that the HSE does not provide that. I am telling her it did provide it, as recently as January. I am aware of that because I have a parliamentary question response. That is telling. If it is not dealing with the Minister of State and sending her into this Chamber with a shortfall in the information she has been asked for, how can she trust it in respect of what I contend is the much more serious matter that just in Cavan and Monaghan, 634 children being failed? They are not only being failed in a moral sense but are being absolutely failed in a legal sense. The Government is breaking the law in respect of these children, and despite the assurances the Minister of State and others have provided to us, this has real-life implications. Many of these 634 children are being denied access to other services because their assessment of need has not been carried out. This Government needs to get a grip on it. I have been here since 2020. I have been listening to the same rhetoric from Ministers about all the measures that are going to be taken to improve matters but it is going to take a little bit of time.

As time passes, the situation gets worse.

I am asking the Minister of State to knock some heads together and sort this out once and for all.

With all due respect to my predecessors and the Minister's, while the Deputy may have heard what plans were coming down the tracks, what he is hearing from us is what plans are happening, what changes are happening and what reforms we are delivering. This week the Minister, Deputy Foley, and I brought to Cabinet legislation that will make it more efficient, more effective and will provide standardised guidelines for the entire assessment of need process. That will be in this House for debate next week. From a policy perspective, the HSE has developed, launched and is about to implement two very significant changes. One is the single point of access, which means there will be no wrong door for any child. I hear this all the time from parents. Someone is on a waiting list for primary care or a CDNT, gets to the top of the list and is told they are on the wrong list. That will be no more. That is a significant change for families. Also, the autism protocol and pathways initiative is being launched. From a budgetary perspective, we are building capacity within our teams. The workforce in disability has increased by 22% in five years and we are investing in the wait list initiative to reduce the number of children in Cavan-Monaghan and across the country who are waiting on an assessment of need. These are real changes that will deliver for children and families. I appreciate it will not happen overnight but these reforms are needed to change the situation for those children and their families.