Over 18,000 children over due Assessment of Need completion

Michael Bolton

Figures from the HSE show there were over 18,000 children overdue for Assessment of Need (AON) completion in the third quarter of 2025.

In a document seen by BreakingNews.ie, 18,097 children are overdue for AON completion, with 15,256 waiting over three months.

This is a nine per cent increase on the Q2 figure of 16,593. There are also 891 applications for which an extended time frame was negotiated with the parent on the grounds of there being exceptional circumstances.

The HSE says the rise is down to 2,957 new applications being received in Q3, making a total of 9,570 received to date in 2025.

This is a 22 per cent increase on the figure for the same period last year of 7,852.

However, the HSE also said they could see as many as 13,000 applications by the end of this year.

1,616 AONs were completed in Q3 2025, a 54 per cent increase on the same period in 2024 of 1,047.

The percentage of AONs that show ‘No Disability’ has increased from 15.8 per cent in 2010 to 29 per cent in 2025.

The area with the highest number of children overdue AON is the HSE Dublin, Dublin and Midlands region, where 6,585 children are waiting. Of that figure, 5,934 are waiting over three months.

This area covers Dublin South City, Dublin West, Dublin South West, Kildare, West Wicklow, Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath.

In HSE Dublin and North East, 5,577 children are overdue for AON, with 4,733 children waiting over three months.

This includes children in North Dublin, Louth, Meath, Monaghan and most of Cavan.

In the Dublin and South East region (Dublin South, Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford), 2,752 children are overdue AON, with 2,190 waiting over three months.

At HSE South West, covering Cork and Kerry, there are 1,569 children overdue AON, 1,126 which are waiting are waiting over three months.

In the West and North West (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, West Cavan, Mayo, Galway and Roscommon), 1,132 children are overdue, including 851 waiting over three months.

At HSE Mid West - Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, 482 children are overdue.

The HSE have said that at the end of Q3 of 2025, 4,544 AONs have been completed.

They also revealed 6,378 AONs have been commissioned from private providers from June 2024 to September 2025.