‘Frightening lack of progress’ on children’s assessments of need, Harris told

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

There has been a “frightening lack of progress” in children waiting for assessments of need, Sinn Féin has said.

The assessments are carried out to identify the health service needs of children with disabilities. They are required to be completed within six months of an application.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said there were more than 11,000 children in Ireland waiting for an assessment of need.

She told the Dáil that “waiting lists have ballooned and capacity has flatlined”.

During Leaders’ Questions, she told Taoiseach Simon Harris that when he was minister for health there were 4,000 children on the waiting list but that this figure had more than doubled since.

“This figure of 11,000 doesn’t count the thousands of children who were subjected to illegal, substandard assessments under a shortcut procedure devised during your time as minister for health – a procedure that was subsequently struck down by the High Court,” Ms McDonald said.

“Two years on, you still don’t have a plan to stop the State from breaking the law and to ensure that children get their assessment of need within six months.

Ms McDonald told Mr Harris the story of Dublin mother Ciara, whose five-year-old autistic son Jaden has an intellectual disability, epilepsy and requires a feeding tube.

She said Ciara was “frantic with worry” and left “in a state of limbo” as she had not heard back on her application for an assessment of need in the last 10 months.

She said she was worried her son would not start school in time and get the support he needed to fulfil his potential.

Ms McDonald asked Mr Harris to hire the required therapists, resolve pay inequality in the sector and set a date for when no child would be waiting longer than six months for an assessment.

In response, Mr Harris said the Government had taken steps in recent weeks “to try and make significant progress”.

He said the Government had launched a new autism innovation strategy, restored in-school therapy supports for children in special schools, and provided funding to secure additional assessments of need through private capacity.

The Taoiseach said: “I’m very clear, there’s a lot more we need to do in relation to disability services.

“That is why we now see, for the first time, additional funding bringing the disability services budget for next year to over three billion euro.”

Mr Harris said a “real focus” had been placed on assessments of need, making particular reference to the almost €7 million allocated in May to procure private assessments.

He said the strategy was working, leading to a 28 per cent increase in assessments compared to the same period last year.

“We’ve allocated a further 10 million euro funding in our Budget only a few weeks ago, to continue this initiative into next year, and actually to grow the scope of it as well,” he added.