Disabilities Assessments
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-04
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Emer Higgins (FG), Dublin Mid-West

I welcome the students to the Seanad. I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this very important issue and giving me the opportunity to talk about assessments of need and the reforms we are introducing in this area.
As the Senator said, Government recognises there are absolutely unacceptable delays in accessing assessments of need, not just in Kildare but right across the country. The Department and the HSE are committed to addressing these delays and ensuring the assessment of need system becomes more efficient and more effective. Demand for assessments of need at a national level has risen significantly. In fact, the number of applications for assessments of need for children has doubled in the past five years. This is reflected in the continued growth in assessment of need applications in the Kildare and west Wicklow local health office area - the Senator's own area.
Last year, there was an 18% increase in demand for assessments of need in the Kildare and west Wicklow area and significant efforts have been made to increase the completion rates of assessments of need in this area. The completion of 162 assessment reports last year represents a marked increase on the figure for the previous year. However, as the Senator said, despite this improvement, the number of children on the waiting list waiting too long is too large. The numbers she outlined in her contribution are stark and highlight the need to do a lot more, not just in Kildare and west Wicklow but at a national level, to ensure assessments of need are completed as soon as possible.
That is why on 9 December, two months ago, the Government announced a series of reforms to the assessment of need process. This will make it more efficient and more effective for children and their families. These reforms include changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005, which provides for assessments of need. It is very important for me 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 that statutory six-month timeline I set out in the Disability Act.
The Senator asked in her contribution for the Government to take action. I am pleased to be able to outline some other key action areas we are bringing in with regard to assessments of need and addressing that issue. In addition to these legislative reforms that will go through the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters, there are a series of operational actions which are being progressed as a matter of priority. They include the development of statutory guidelines to ensure that assessments of need focus on identifying a child’s needs, engaging in more intensive assessments only where there is an identified need. This should help reduce delays and allow therapists to spend more time delivering services to children. The establishment by the HSE of 11 new teams, initially to support HSE assessment processes, including assessments of need, are also being set up. Each team will include a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and an administrator, who will provide clinical guidance to families throughout that process. I also take the opportunity to remind Senators, when they are speaking to families, to encourage them to refer themselves on to our children disability network teams, CDNTs, if they think there is a need. An assessment of need is not required for that.
Government recognises the need for urgency when it comes to addressing delays in the assessment of need system. That is why we are committed to addressing the measures I have outlined, because we want to benefit children and their families.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-04