Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
851. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to her recent announcement concerning the assessment of need process,to provide clarity on how children will be guaranteed access to interventions that depend on a full diagnostic assessment. [72206/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra852. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to your recent announcement concerning the assessment of need process can you please provide full details and impact assessments of the proposed changes. [72207/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra853. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to your recent announcement concerning the assessment of need process, can you engage in open consultation with stakeholders, including parents and advocacy groups; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72208/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra854. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to your recent announcement concerning the assessment of need process, can you ensure that any revised model maintains children’s legal rights under the Disability Act 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72209/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra855. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to your recent announcement concerning the assessment of need process, can you prioritise adequate staffing and funding, so the system can meet demand without lowering standards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72210/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 851, 852, 853, 854 and 855 together.
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.
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. As the Deputy is aware, the Committee may invite stakeholders to participate and produce a report with recommendations to the Bill based on its scrutiny.
In tandem with this, officials in the Department will be conducting stakeholder engagement sessions with a range of groups, the first of which is scheduled to take place this week. This will build on previous engagement by the Department with the Department of Education and Youth, the National Council for Special Education, the HSE and the National Clinical Programme for People with Disability.
It is also important to note that the work on the proposed changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act was informed by inputs from stakeholders during the development of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People and by the review of the Interim Guidance for the HSE Assessment of Need Standard Operating Procedure, undertaken by the National Clinical Programme for People with Disability (NCPPD). The latter was supported by a multistakeholder Task Group who contributed to the evidence base for changes.
Ensuring that there are sufficient resources allocated to the delivery of the Assessment of Need process, both in terms of staffing and financial resources, continues to be focus for the Department and the HSE. This includes a number of measures:
• The Assessment of Need Targeted Waitlist Initiative was introduced in May 2024 to support the delivery of Assessments of Need to those families who have been waiting longest. Under this Initiative, the HSE provides for the procurement of clinical assessments from approved private providers. Recent HSE data shows that over 6,300 clinical assessments have been commissioned from private providers since the Initiative started in June 2024. Budget 2026 provides for the continuation of this Initiative next year with €20 million provided for the delivery of some 6,000 clinical assessments.
• In 2026, the HSE is also establishing 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, to provide clinical guidance where required throughout the process.
• Work is ongoing to increase the staffing capacity of the HSE Assessment of Need Teams including assessment officers, liaison officers and administrative supports.
An Assessment of Need (AON) is not required to access health services, including Primary Care, Children’s Disability Network Teams, or Mental Health Services. When a person is receiving health services, the aim is to provide a diagnosis as soon as possible where this is required and/or possible. However, assessment and/or diagnosis are only one part of a continuum of support provided to the person. They should not delay the provision of therapeutic services which may meet a child’s needs. Once accessing health services, the offerings are designed flexibly to ensure they are responding to the needs as best possible.
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.
In conjunction with these changes, operational measures are being introduced to not only improve access to assessments but also ensure that therapies are being delivered sooner:
• The HSE is putting in place a new autism assessment process from February 2026, which should provide faster access to an autism assessment for families than through the Assessment of Need process.
• The implementation of a Single Point of Access in 2026 by the HSE which will ensure that children are referred to the appropriate service that meets their needs as soon as possible.
The provision of an effective and efficient Assessment of Need system and the provision of services to children as early as possible continue to be priorities for the Government.
