Thomas Gould
Question:59. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of publicly funded private assessments of needs delivered in Cork in 2025; and the number delivered publicly. [71672/25]
View answerThursday, 18 December 2025
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Under 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.
It is important to note that an Assessment of Need (AON) is not required to access health services, including Primary Care, Children’s Disability Network Teams, or Mental Health Services.
Section 8 of the Disability Act, 2005 makes provision for the carrying out of Assessments of Need, including the appointment of assessment officers by the HSE. They are responsible for carrying out assessments of applicants for assessments of need or for arranging for them to be carried out by other persons with appropriate experience. The latter can include the procurement of clinical assessments from private providers. Notwithstanding this, the HSE assessment officers are solely responsible for the production of the assessment report as set out in Section 8(7) of the Act.
HSE South West advises that, to increase compliance with legislative timelines, diagnostic autism assessments are procured from private providers utilising funding provided by this Department under the Targeted Waitlist Initiative. As such, where a diagnostic autism assessment is required under the Assessment of Need process, Assessment Officers for HSE South West allocate these assessments to the contracted private providers.
Most recent Assessment of Need data from the HSE to the end of September shows that 760 assessment of need reports were completed in Cork. During the same period, 742 private autism assessments were completed. It's important to note that the data on private clinical assessments and on completed AON reports do not align, and some private autism assessments may relate to assessment of need reports that are not yet completed.
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. 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 provision of an effective and efficient Assessment of Need system continues to be a priority for the Government.