Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On page 73 of the programme for Government, a commitment is made to provide access for early years and educational needs. I want to address the lengthy delays children and their parents are facing on the waiting list for assessments of need, AON. In Cavan-Monaghan, 177 chlidren are waiting for an AON. The rule is that once the application is made for an assessment, the services should be put in place within six months. One little boy who is only seven years of age but who is in school, is waiting for his assessment and has been told that the estimated timeframe for this is four years and eight months. Another little boy is waiting to hear from his occupational therapist. I have a letter from the child development team in Cavan-Monaghan, which states in black and white that this child will wait four years and five months for occupational therapy services. The children are not going to get their physiotherapy or speech and language therapy, and this particular child will not get a special needs assistant, SNA, which he badly needs. Those waiting lists are outrageous for any children in any year.

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