Disability Services
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Emer Higgins (FG), Dublin Mid-West

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to address this on the floor of the House. The delivery of an effective, efficient assessment of need system is a priority for the Government. There has been intensive work by the Department of Health and the HSE. Demand for assessments of need has increased significantly in recent years. Applications may be in excess of 11,000 this year compared with 4,700 in 2020. That represents a doubling in five years. This reflects both the increase in population and the number of families exploring all options to access services for their child. The impact of this increased demand has contributed to more than 18,000 applications being overdue for completion nationwide at the end of September. We will have figures for the end of this year shortly. In September, there was a 42% increase on this time last year.
More positively, there has been continual improvement in the number of completed assessment of need reports. Over 4,500 reports were completed in the first nine months of this year, a 57% increase compared with the same period last year. This improvement has been bolstered by significant investment by the Department in the targeted waitlist initiative, which focuses on the families waiting longest for assessments of need. More than 6,300 clinical assessments have been commissioned from private providers under the initiative since it started in June 2024. Budget 2026 provides for the continuation of this initiative next year, with €20 million provided for the delivery of some 6,000 clinical assessments.
Last week, the Government announced a series of reforms to the assessment of need process that will make the process more effective and efficient for children and their families. Over time, this should lead to a reduction in the waiting time to receive an assessment. This reform includes changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005, which provides for assessments of need. I will elaborate further.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18