Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 February 2026
358. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children in County Wexford currently awaiting their first assessment of needs appointment; the way this compares to 12 months ago; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9055/26]
View answer359. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children in County Wicklow currently awaiting their first assessment of needs appointment; the way this compares to 12 months ago; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9056/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 358 and 359 together.
The 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 HSE 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 just over 20,200 applications overdue for completion nationwide at the end of 2025, according to the most recently available HSE data.
More positively, there has been continued improvement in the number of completed assessment of need reports. Over 5,930 reports were completed in 2025 – a 43% increase compared to 2024.
The HSE provides Assessment of Need data on a quarterly basis. This data is not available on a county-level but is available at Local Health Office (LHO) level. In addition, data is not gathered on the number of children awaiting their first Assessment of Need appointment. However, data is collated on the number of Assessment of Need reports that are not completed within 6 months of receipt of an application, and this data is provided below. It should be noted that Wicklow county falls within two LHO areas; Wicklow and Kildare-West Wicklow. Relevant data has been provided for Wicklow and Wexford LHOs.
The most recent available data shows that, in Wicklow LHO, 1,194 Assessment of Need applications were overdue for completion at the end of December 2025. This number includes all assessment reports that were not completed within 6 months of receipt of an Assessment of Need application.
These numbers reflect the high number of applications for an Assessment of Need in Wicklow LHO with 739 applications received in 2025 and 723 in 2024. There has been a noted improvement in the number of completed reports with 375 completed in 2025, an increase of 39% on the previous year.
For Wexford LHO, 261 AON reports were overdue for completion in 2025 compared to 198 in 2024. There was a notable increase in the number of Assessment of Need applications received, with 408 applications in 2025 compared to 231 in 2024, a 76% increase in one year.
In December 2025, 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 of need.
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 Assessments of Need 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.
