Cabinet Committees
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-09
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

I want to raise the Disability (Amendment) Bill. While the Government presents this legislation as reform, the details suggest a significant shift in how children will be able to access assessments and services. The Bill gives authority to an assessment officer to formally determine whether a child has a qualifying disability before a full clinical assessment to the medical needs can begin. This represents a fundamental change. It places the decision on eligibility at the very start of the process rather than allowing clinicians to assess need and determine diagnosis based on examination. It is my understanding that the assessment officers will be administrative officials. They will not have medical practitioner experience or they will not be therapists, yet under these proposal they are being given the central role in deciding whether a child proceeds to a full assessment. Does the Taoiseach agree with AsIAm, the Disability Federation Ireland and Inclusion Ireland which have warned that this could operate as a filtering mechanism, limiting the numbers entering the system, rather than resolving delays?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09