Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy Tully, for bringing forward this motion on assessments of need for children with special educational requirements. Back in October 2020, the Ombudsman for Children's Office, OCO, published a report, Unmet Needs, which set out the challenges experienced by children with additional needs requiring assessments. The report highlighted the violations of the rights of children with additional needs and delays to assessments. The HSE is obliged to commence a full assessment within three months of a child's application and this must be completed within six months. In most cases, this is not happening.

The length of time children are waiting has forced families to go down the private route and to pay for an assessment, as many fear their children are being left behind by this Government. For other families, the private route is not an option. Why is it that the parents of children with additional needs must fight tooth and nail to get their children what they are entitled to? They must fight for housing, school places, special needs assistants, SNAs, school transport, speech and language classes and carers allowance. They must battle for any and all kinds of assistance. Yet the biggest fight they face is getting what they are entitled to from the State. In the context of the Mind the Gap report, Dr. Niall Muldoon, the Ombudsman for Children, stated that:

It is high time that children with [additional needs] and their families stop having to battle to overcome barriers. Our laws and policies must serve all of our children and allow them all to access the best education possible. It is our duty to empower them to be the best they can be and the structures must be there to support their development. It is high time for the State to lead, not impede.

In October 2021, the Minister of State told the Oireachtas that there were more than 400 staff shortages in children's disability services. Is this going to be addressed? This must be a priority for any Government. Many parents are tired and exhausted from fighting the system to get their children what should be a given in any kind of society. We are not much of a society if we do not look after children with additional needs and parents.

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