Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
47. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the details of the changes that will be made to the Disability Act 2005 in relation to assessment of need; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72891/25]
View answerUnder the Disability Act, an Assessment of Need is an assessment process carried out by the HSE where a person is of the opinion that he/she may have a disability, for anyone born after 1st June 2002. It first establishes whether the person has a disability (as defined within the Act). It then identifies the health and education needs of the person with a disability and the services required to meet those needs.
On December 9th, Government announced a series of reforms to the Assessment of Need process which will make the process more effective and efficient for children and families. These reforms include changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act, 2005, which provides for Assessments of Need. The General Scheme of the Disability (Amendment) Bill 2025 was approved by Government on 9 December and will be published on the Department’s website shortly. As part of the development of the General Scheme, a Regulatory Impact Assessment was prepared, and this will also be published.
These changes will not remove any rights for parents to apply for an Assessment of Need for their child, nor will they alter the statutory six-month timeline set out in the Disability Act.
The Department is currently at an early stage of the legislative process. It is expected that the General Scheme will undergo pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters early in the New Year.
The proposed legislative changes to the Disability Act 2005 are intended to support more effective delivery of Assessments of Need, and to provide clearer guidance and supports so that the process can be made more efficient, reduce delays and allow therapists to spend more time delivering services.
Key features of the bill are to include:
• An increased focus on the identification of a person’s needs and the services to meet those needs, rather than on the nature of their disability.
• The creation of statutory guidelines to support and enhance the decision-making capacity of HSE assessment officers, who are responsible for the production of assessment of need reports.
• A focus on the use of appropriate and proportionate clinical assessment(s) during the assessment of need process to ensure that they should only be used where required to establish the child’s needs.
The provision of an effective and efficient Assessment of Need system continues to be a priority for the Government.
