Disability (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Richard Boyd Barrett (PBP), Dún Laoghaire

Bringing this Bill before us is an admission by the Government that it has failed, and is failing, tens of thousands of the most vulnerable children in our society. Introducing the Bill, the Minister indicated she was mindful of that failure by referring to the unacceptable waiting lists for assessment of need. She talked about the frustration felt by parents and families and the impact on children. However, the Bill she has put forward does absolutely nothing to address that. She did not even bother to explain what the purpose of the Bill was and how it would impact on the problem she briefly and half-heartedly acknowledged, namely, the unacceptable failure by the State to provide the most vulnerable in our society with the necessary assessment of need. Some 28,000 vulnerable children with special needs and disabilities have not received an assessment. When people finally do get an assessment after a long wait, they cannot access the services they need.
The Government's Bill looks designed to cull the lists. It certainly will not deal with the fundamental problem, which is that the CDNTs are massively understaffed.
The Government has failed to recruit the people necessary to staff the CDNTs to be able to do the assessments, and more important, to provide the services, supports and resources children need, which are critical and which their parents are up the wall about because they know they will have a lifelong impact on their children. The failure to get a diagnosis can compound situations in terms of mental health problems the children suffer from, getting bounced between CDNTs and CAMHS.
The change in definition from disability to substantial restriction is very concerning. What does that mean? What defines "substantial"? Why does a change in definition address the problem? It is difficult not to suspect that what is happening is that the Government is reducing eligibility, that it is raising the bar to make it more difficult for people to get the services and supports they need, rather than addressing the fundamental problem. It has the right to take people off the list because when people are waiting this long, many people are forced to go private. Where have we seen that story? We have seen it in every public service situation. Long waiting lists force people to go private, leaving the poorest, the least well-off, on the lists and they can be taken off if they do not reply to letters. People who are the most vulnerable and most stressed with housing situations - and often housing crisis situations overlap with children with these sorts of needs - might not reply to letters. They get taken off a list. They realise they have been taken off the list and seek reinstatement but are put at the bottom of the list again. It is unbelievable and it looks, unless the Government can tell us otherwise, like this about culling the list and reducing eligibility for the things that are necessary.
Section 6 gives power to the Minister for statutory guidelines. We do not know what they are. We already have assessment of need guidelines. Why does the Minister need this new power? We are being asked to pass legislation, when we already have guidelines, that gives the Minister the power to pass new guidelines, which we have not been told about and we do not know what they are. It stinks and it certainly will not address the problem. It looks like culling the list.

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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