Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá córas againn sa Stát seo maidir le measúnú do pháistí atá riachtanais sa bhreis acu. Níl an córas sin ag obair, ní raibh sé ag obair riamh, agus níl an Rialtas ag déanamh faic dó. This morning, RTÉ has shone another light on an issue we have had to raise in the House for far too long and far too often. This is the time that children are waiting for an assessment of need for which an average waiting time of 19 months, despite a legal requirement for assessments to be completed within six months under the Disability Act 2005. Some have been waiting up to two years and more. The six-month timeframe is crucial because it recognises the vital importance of early intervention for children in these circumstances. It is one of the only legally set timeframes to which the HSE must adhere. It was put there for a very valid reason. Despite this, the State has consistently failed to live up to its legal requirements to ensure children can access an assessment of their needs. This is crucial to ensure the best possible outcome for every child.

If we do this within the timeframe, proper outcomes for every child will be possible but this is not happening. Nine out of every ten children are being failed by the State with regard to their legal right. Children are being left behind and parents are at their wits' end waiting for an assessment for their children. They know that without a diagnosis for needs such as autism and communication difficulties, their children will not be able to get the vital supports and services they need.

A couple of weeks ago, the Sinn Féin leader, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald, raised this issue with the Taoiseach . She raised the fact that parents are currently before the courts trying to address the situation and obtain an assessment of need for their children within the legally specified timeframe. Here again, we have another situation where citizens of the State have to go to court to vindicate their rights and the rights of their children. I will not comment on an individual case but it has become the default position of the State to force people into stressful and expensive legal battles instead of throwing up its hands and saying it was wrong. These parents deserve an apology and support, not a legal battle to ensure their children are afforded their legal rights in the first place.

The Tánaiste should put himself in the shoes of these parents and imagine a day or a week in their lives, or a month or a year with no light at the end of the tunnel, watching and worrying as delay after delay causes harm to their children - harm that is absolutely avoidable. Walking this walk with these parents is the only way to understand why the timeframes of three and six months are set as a legal right. Will the Government do the right thing? Will it ensure children receive the care to which they are entitled under law? Will it act to ensure that no parent of a child with special needs must go to court to obtain vital and legally guaranteed supports for their children?

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