Questions

910. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide details of any review being undertaken into the adequacy of personal assistance hour allocations for people with complex physical disabilities who require support beyond basic daily living tasks, including attendance at appointments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37256/26]

911. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reasons the HSE only allows clients in receipt of personal assistant support hours to bank unused hours for use within the same week only, even in circumstances where the service provider may be in a position to facilitate those hours at a later date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37258/26]

912. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration will be given to introducing greater flexibility in the use of banked personal assistance hours for people with disabilities who may require support for vital medical appointments, social participation, education or other essential activities outside of the same weekly period; and if she will make a statement on the …

913. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will clarify whether a client whose care package is temporarily paused or underutilised can later access unused funding from their allocated yearly HSE budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37260/26]

914. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding unused funding remaining within an individual's allocated yearly budget; whether those funds are returned to central HSE budgets, reallocated elsewhere, or carried forward in any capacity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37261/26]

412. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether net foster carer figures are being used in policy assessment by her Department; the way in which attrition of foster carers is being addressed alongside recruitment; the way in which the foster system capacity is being monitored in real terms; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31611/26]

914. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of graduate speech and language therapists that were offered placements within CDNTs in CHO8 in 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29642/26]

944. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1040 of 17 February 2026, when a reply will be issued by Tusla; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30371/26]

128. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla has completed any monitoring visits to hotels used to provide separated children seeking international protection, SCSIP, accommodation in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28219/26]

145. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason the caseload management system at Tusla has been paused; the protocols in place to ensure that Tusla social workers are not overwhelmed by caseloads; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28218/26]

502. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the clinical expertise that will be offered to the autism assessment officers, that will decide on the applications that will go onto the intervention protocol list; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29470/26]

289. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the recently revised assessment of need framework limits or reduces access to cognitive assessment for children, including in cases where intellectual disability is not suspected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22626/26]

290. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which the recently revised assessment of need framework ensures that children with uneven developmental profiles, including those who may be gifted or twice-exceptional (i.e. children with both high ability and additional needs such as autism, ADHD or dyslexia), will be appropriately identified within the system; and if sh…

291. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the Department has conducted any impact assessment on how recently revised assessment of need framework may affect the identification of children whose needs are masked by high cognitive ability or compensatory functioning; the safeguards in place to prevent under-identification of such children, particularly in light of evid…

292. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to clarify if access to cognitive or psychological assessment remains available where there is evidence of significant intra-individual discrepancy, asynchronous development, or unexplained underachievement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22629/26]

293. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration has been given to the potential for increased reliance on private assessments arising from any restriction in public access to cognitive assessment, the implications this may have for equity of access; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22630/26]

294. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the training or guidance is being provided to assessment officers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure that complex presentations, including masking and twice-exceptionality, are recognised under the revised assessment of need model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22631/26]

295. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to confirm whether the Department intends to review the implementation of the revised assessment of need framework to ensure that no cohort of children is excluded from identification due to the streamlining of assessment processes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22632/26]

810. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of WTE social workers by grade posts filled at north Louth CDNT as of 16 February 2026, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21615/26]

503. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No's 825, 820 and 822 of 30 September 2025, when responses will issue to the queries raised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18228/26]

103. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the proposals her Department has to deal with the fact that Tusla has advised that 300 social workers,100 social care workers and 500 foster carers are needed now to cope with demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13212/26]

126. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to report on the progress being made to establish community neurological rehabilitation multidisciplinary teams for children who have acquired brain injuries and other neurological conditions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13213/26]

549. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an update on the initiatives and legislative change under way to deal with the backlog in the assessment of needs (AON) list; the way these will impact on reducing the waiting lists for AONs and provide greater access to the necessary therapies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13211/26]

1040. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of referrals made to Tusla related to reported sexual abuse of children in both 2024 and 2025; the number of referrals made to Tusla for therapy following sexual abuse reports in 2024 and 2025 and, of these referrals in these years, the number of referrals that received therapy; and if she will make a statement on the mat…

179. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of WTE physiotherapist posts, by grade, filled within Disability Services in CHO8 as of 20 January 2026, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6821/26]