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 they 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.
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 families exploring all options to access services for their child.
Unfortunately, this demand is outpacing the capacity of the system to respond. However, there has been continued improvement in the number of completed Assessment of Need reports with 5,939 reports completed in 2025. This is a 43% increase nationally compared to the number completed in 2024
On December 9th 2025, Government announced a series of changes to the Assessment of Need process which will make it more effective and efficient for children and families. These changes include amendments to Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005, which provides for Assessments of Need.
The General Scheme of the Disability (Amendment) Bill has been published on the Department’s website. The Joint Committee on Disability Matters has published its report, following pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, and the Department is considering its recommendations. An www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/publications/from-subject-received-size-categories-aoife-carragher-dcde-fw-dcde-website-aon-1532-1-mb/has also been published, providing information on Assessment of Need and the proposed changes for families and other stakeholders.
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.
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.
It is important to recognise that legislation is only a part of the response. The Department is working with the HSE to identify further opportunities to enhance processes, improve training, and increase administrative supports for HSE Assessment Officers who are responsible for the production of Assessment of Need reports. This includes the establishment of working groups to address learning and development needs and to develop statutory guidelines.
The HSE is also implementing actions to address the wider issue of access to services and supports for children with disabilities including:
• Introduction of a Single Point of Access system. This should make it easier for families to be referred to the right service, whether that is primary care, CDNT or mental health services. It aims to streamline referrals and reduce duplication, so children do not end up on multiple waiting lists.
• Implementation of the Autism Assessment and Intervention Pathways Protocol. The Protocol will provide a standardised assessment process across primary care, mental health and disability services. It will be the preferred assessment route for autism.
• The creation of eleven new HSE teams, initially, to support assessment processes, including AON, providing clinical guidance and administrative supports.
Over time, these improvements to the AON process should result in a noticeable reduction in waiting times for children and their families across the country.
