Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What steps is the Minister of State taking to address the disgraceful situation whereby the waiting time for an autism spectrum disorder assessment for children in Cork city and county, many of whom are in my constituency of Cork South-West, can take up to 28 months? The Minister is aware that children with disabilities are legally entitled to an assessment of need under the Disability Act 2005. Moreover, assessments should commence within three months of an application being received and completed within a further three months. I am aware of the roll-out of the new standard operating procedure and note the concerns about this raised by various stakeholders at the Committee on Health last week.

More than 1,150 children in Cork are waiting on stage 2 of the assessment of needs process. These children are waiting for clinical assessments to be completed and roughly 900 have been referred for an autism spectrum disorder assessment. Many of these will wait up to 28 months for an ASD assessment. Why has Cork got such a large waiting list? Why has Cork been left waiting so long? Behind these figures are human beings, parents and siblings, people who are waiting for an official diagnosis to be able to plan a future for their family.

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