Disabilities Assessments Dail Éireann — 2026-02-19 ============================================================ Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan The Minister of State started her response by saying this is a priority for the Government. I would hate to see it if it were not a priority for the Government. Some 550 children have been waiting over six months for an assessment of need in the two small counties, population-wise, of Cavan and Monaghan. That is 550 times that the members of Government have broken the law. They are obliged under the Disability Act 2005 to ensure that children receive an assessment of need within six months. Imagine that. We have a Minister of State saying they have broken the law 550 times in just one constituency, but they are going to do something about it at some point in the future, including changing the law so they cover themselves and so they are not actually in breach of the law. How many children last year in counties Cavan and Monaghan actually received their assessment of need within six months, the legal time limit? --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-19