Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to update Deputy Healy and the House on the progress under way in developing services for children with disabilities and the current position on waiting times for assessment of needs in particular with regard to the disability services in south Tipperary.

Under the Disability Act 2005, a child can request an assessment of need. The HSE recognises that it faces significant challenges in respect of meeting the statutory timeframes which apply to the assessment of need process. The number of applications for assessment under the Act has increased each year since the Act was introduced. More than 6,000 applications were received countrywide in 2016. However, as of 31 December 2016, 100% of applications for south Tipperary, had commenced within the statutory timeframe. At 31 December, there were a total of 42 applications overdue for completion with 14 of these overdue by less than one month and 32 overdue by less than three months. In some individual assessments, it is more challenging to adhere to the statutory timelines, for example. Where a psychology assessment is required, this may necessitate a number of visits over a prolonged period of time. This would be true for instance regarding borderline cases on the autism spectrum.

The Disability Act 2005 makes allowances for these exceptional circumstances in individual assessments as regards the timeline for completion of assessments. In south Tipperary, it is acknowledged that there is currently a deficit in psychology services, a function which is essential for the completion of the assessment of need report. However, recruitment is under way to fill an additional post for a senior psychology post for the early intervention team. I know the Deputy will welcome this news. Interviews are to be held in February. The current Programme for a Partnership Government commits this Government to improving services and increasing supports for people with disabilities, particularly for early assessment and intervention for children with special needs.

The HSE has recognised that early intervention services and services for school aged children with disabilities need to be improved and organised more effectively. To this end, a major reconfiguration of therapy resources for children with disabilities aged up to 18 years is well under way. This involves bringing staff from different service providers together into network teams and is called the national programme on progressing disability services for children and young people, nought to 18 years. Since 2014, the roll out of the national programme on progressing disability services for children and young people, nought to 18 years, has entailed targeted investment of €14 million and the provision of 275 additional therapy staff to increase services for children with all disabilities.

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