Disability (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

The test of any disability Bill is very simple. Will it deliver better outcomes for children with disabilities and their families? Those families have heard enough about reforms, reviews and new processes. What they need has been stated many times. They need assessments and they need services. What I want to know is if this legislation will improve the scandalous situation affecting children with disabilities and their families in Monaghan and Cavan. There are 794 children in my constituency waiting for assessments of need. Virtually none of them will receive it within the statutory six-month period. Each one of that number is a child. Each one represents a family that has been fighting a system that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have allowed to fail them.
The Government response is to introduce a new Bill at a time when it is breaking the law that is already in place. I want to say this clearly: the families of these kids will not accept any attempt to simply streamline children off a waiting list rather than deliver their rights. Changing procedure does not provide a single extra speech and language therapist. It does not provide a single additional occupational therapist, psychologist or special education place. Families in counties like Monaghan and Cavan do not need another Government announcement. They do not need a new law. They need the law that is there to be honoured. They need the staff to be employed to do the work. Above all, they need their children to get the services that they are entitled to when they need them.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-23