An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-14
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

The Government is taking very strong action on disability generally. Some €600 million extra was allocated in the most recent budget and there have been major increases in expenditure on education. The general scheme of the disability (amendment) Bill 2026 will be published shortly. That deals with the assessment of need process. The proposed amendments will make that process more child-centred, enabling proportionate assessments with more intensive clinical input only where required. Alongside those legislative changes, a programme of operational and non-legislative reforms is being implemented, including: a new single point of access; a dedicated autism diagnostic assessment panel; the launch of a new autism assessment intervention protocol in May; the removal of the requirement for a professional report to access special classes and school placements; the introduction of 11 new in-reach clinical teams to provide additional clinical guidance and support to assessment staff; and the roll-out of the education therapy service across 45 special schools, with plans to roll out to all schools. The focus is on early identification of need and making sure that children get access to therapy services in the first instance. That is the direction of travel.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-14