Written Answers Nos. 608-618
608. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of WTE physiotherapists based at Thomastown children's disability network team in 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form. [73323/25]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
609. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of WTE occupational therapists based at Carlow children's disability network team in 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form. [73324/25]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
610. Deputy David Maxwell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the governance structure under which the CRANOG Resource Centre in Castleblayney operates, given that it is an HSE-operated service for adults with physical and sensory disabilities; if the New Directions Policy Framework, introduced in 2012, is the governing framework for this service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73386/25]
View answer611. Deputy David Maxwell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the proportion of the 293 weekly funded staff hours at the CRANOG Resource Centre that are allocated to direct client support, as opposed to administrative or non-contact duties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73388/25]
View answer612. Deputy David Maxwell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of individuals currently on the waiting list for services at the CRANOG Resource Centre in Castleblayney; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73390/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 610 to 612, inclusive, together.
As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
613. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether she is aware that an organisation (details supplied) in Cork will be closing mid-January; and whether she will intervene to keep this vital service open and expand its staffing to allow it to reach its full potential. [73402/25]
View answerTusla has indicated that the services provided from Liberty Street House will continue to be provided.
Tusla is undertaking a Reform Programme which will continue to meet the needs of service users of Liberty Street Services. The preventative aspect of work undertaken in Liberty Street Services will align with Family Support and Safety and Welfare structures and all relevant cases in Liberty Street Services will continue to be worked on within newly aligned Tusla networks in 2026.
Liberty Street Services provides a domestic violence and abuse support service. Under the Reform Programme, the focus will shift towards the impact of domestic violence on children, bringing an expertise developed in Liberty Street Services to the Front Door Teams across networks. Equally, Liberty Street staff who have developed a skillset in working with teenagers will continue to utilise these relational skills.
Tusla Structural Reform will bring opportunities to the young people and families that Liberty Street Services work with. It will also deliver an integrative response of early intervention/family support and child welfare – which Liberty Street Services has responded to in a myriad of ways since it opened.
I appreciate all of the work done by the team in Liberty Street House on behalf of the state and local government.
614. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the funding provided in each of the past five years for an organisation (details supplied) in Cork. [73404/25]
View answerTusla has advised that Liberty Street House in Cork is a Tusla internal service staff by Tusla employees. The services currently provided from Liberty Street House are mainly aimed at children aged between 15 and 18 who are out of home or at risk of being so.
As an internal Tusla resource, it is funded from the Tusla budget allocation.
You may be interested to know that since its establishment in 2014, Tusla has effectively seen its budget more than double and has also expanded its workforce by 57%.
Its budget has increased by more than 50% since 2020 when it received an allocation of €817m to €1,400m for 2026. This includes funding of approximately €60m from the Department of Education.
615. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality given the repeated failures within TUSLA highlighted in the media and raised in the Dáil Éireann including cases where babies were removed from breastfeeding mothers, the reason children are not immediately returned to their parents when a placement breaks down, particularly where the parent has been assessed as safe and is already caring for other children; the criteria TUSLA relies on to keep children in care in these circumstances; the accountability which exists when reunification is delayed without lawful or child-centred reasons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73593/25]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency, is required by law to be independent in its work as set out in Section 8 (11) of the Child and Family Agency Act.
It is important to state that while Tusla acts as the guardian of children in care, care orders under the Act are granted by the Courts. Court oversight of the granting of care orders is a key aspect of upholding the rights of parents and families, and ensuring that children are taken into care only where it is found that they are unlikely to receive the care or protection they need unless a Court makes a care order in respect of that child.
Tusla has advised that it recognises the importance of children living with their families, where possible. Where a child has been taken into care, Tusla works to achieve reunification where this is in the best interests of the child. In the interest of improving the support network around children, even where that child may be in care, Tusla has stated that its workers advocate on behalf of parents to secure support services. These could include addiction or mental health services, housing and income supports, as well as parenting and family supports.
In the event that a child remains in care long-term, Tusla has advised that the supports it offers to parents seeks to assist the parent in maintaining regular contact with the child by means of family access, where parent, child and siblings may visit or spend time with each other.
In respect of protecting children in care from harm, the Child Care Act 1991 is the primary piece of legislation governing the alternative care system. The Act is a wide-ranging piece of legislation, which, at its core, seeks to promote the welfare of children who may not be receiving adequate care and protection.
Consequently, the Act sets out a detailed statutory framework, which includes but is not limited to provisions requiring Tusla to have regard to the best interests of the child, the thresholds for bringing children into care, the types of placements where they may be cared for, and the responsibilities of the State in respect of looking after these children.
The placement of children in alternative care is also governed by Regulations and Standards for Foster Care, Residential Care, and Special Care. These Regulations and Standards set out the detailed criteria against which Tusla is inspected in its provision of alternative care services. The application of these Regulations and Standards promotes safe and high-quality practice in alternative care.
616. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children waiting for an assessment of need at the latest available point in 2024 and 2024, by county; the number of assessments conducted in the year to date and in 2024; and the number of applications received in the year to date and in 2024, in tabular form. [73662/25]
View answerThe delivery of an effective, efficient Assessment of Need system is a priority for the Government. There has been intensive work by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the HSE to address delays in the provision of Assessments of Need.
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 children do not require an Assessment of Need to access health services, including Primary Care, Children’s Disability Network Teams or Mental Health Services.
However, demand for Assessments of Need has increased significantly in recent years, reflecting both the increase in population and the number of families exploring all options to access services for their child. The impact of this increased demand has contributed to there being over 18,000 applications overdue for completion nationwide at the end of September- a 42% increase on this time last year.
More positively, there has been continued improvement in the number of completed assessment of need reports. Over 4,500 reports were completed in the first nine months of this year – a 57% increase compared to the same period last year.
The HSE provides Assessment of Need data on a quarterly basis but has advised this data is not available on a county level. In 2025, the HSE moved from reporting on AON data at CHO level to Regional Health Area(RHA) level.
The tables at the link below set out the requested data by CHO for 2024 and by Regional Health Area for the first nine months of 2025, which is the latest data available.
Last week, 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. Over time, this should lead to a reduction in the waiting time to receive an assessment.
This reform includes changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act, 2005, which provides for Assessments of Need. The General Scheme of the Disability (Amendment) Bill 2025 which outlines these proposed changes was approved by Government on 9 December and will be published on the Department’s website shortly.
Any proposed legislative 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.
Other aspects of the reform include:
• The development of statutory guidelines to ensure that AONs focus on identifying a child’s needs, engaging in more intensive assessments only where required to identify need. This should help reduce delays and allow therapists to spend more time delivering services.
• The establishment by the HSE of eleven new teams, initially, to support HSE assessment processes, including Assessments of Need. Each team will include a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist, and an administrator, providing clinical guidance throughout the process.
The provision of an effective and efficient Assessment of Need system continues to be a priority for the Government.
617. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of people waiting for CDNT services at the latest available point in 2025, in tabular form. [73663/25]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
618. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of people waiting for disability services outside CDNTs, by service type, at the latest available point in 2025, in tabular form. [73664/25]
View answer625. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of people in County Waterford waiting for disability services outside CDNTs, broken down by service type, at the latest available point in 2025, in tabular form. [73693/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 618 and 625 together.
As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
