Waiting lists for assessments of needs 'a failure of the State', says Cork senator

Cork senator Laura Harmon has said the State is failing young people with disabilities after HSE figures showed more than 1,200 children in Cork are overdue an assessment of need (AON) for disability services — with 77% of these overdue by more than three months.

Under the Disability Act, the HSE must start the assessment within three months of receiving an application, and complete the assessment within a further three months.

Figures provided to the Labour Party, through a parliamentary question by TD Alan Kelly, show that a total of 1,206 people in Cork are overdue their assessment of need.

About half of these are in Cork North Lee, where 576 AONs are overdue as of the end of March. This is followed by 340 children in Cork North, 247 in South Lee, and 43 in Cork West.

Of these, 115 are less than one month overdue — 60 in North Lee; 27 in South Lee; 22 in Cork North, and six in Cork West.

The figures show 166 people are waiting for between one and three months — 64 in North Lee, 47 in both South Lee and North Cork, and eight in Cork West.

'Failure'

The figures show 925 are more than three months overdue; 452 in North Lee, 173 in South Lee, 271 in Cork North, and 29 in Cork West.

Speaking to The Echo, Cork senator Laura Harmon said the figures represent “a failure from the State”.

“Under disability legislation, children are entitled to an assessment of need (AON) within six months of applying for it,” she said.

“We need to see this Government taking disability seriously, and I will be raising this issue in the Seanad and on the new disability matters Oireachtas committee.”

Nationally, the total number of applications overdue for completion at end of Q1 2025 is 15,296, an increase of an 8% on the end 2024 figure.

In Q1 2025, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act.

The HSE said that 20% more new applications were received in the first three months of this year than in the same period last year, though a 65% increase in assessments were completed in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024, due in part to additional funding allocated in Budget 2025 to assist with addressing the backlog.

Commissioned

Under a new assessment standard operating procedure initiative, launched in July 2023, some 3,636 assessments have been commissioned from private providers from June 2024 to March 2025.

“Despite increased activity in relation to AON, the number of people overdue an AON is growing as demand outstrips system capacity,” a HSE spokesperson said.

“We anticipate that by the end of 2025, there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion.”

They added that an assessment of need is not required to access primary care, children’s disability services, or mental health services, saying they are focusing on a communications campaign to inform families of this and awaiting clarification from the Government on their commitment to review the Disability Act.

Additional resources have been allocated in 2025 to increase the numbers of assessment and liaison officers which will be prioritised to areas with the longest waiting lists, primarily in Dublin and Cork.