Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Despite repeated calls from the Ombudsman for Children, children with special education requirements are not having a special assessment of needs done, which is their right under the UNCRC. There were 5,060 applications for assessments of need in 2018. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, acknowledged that there were 4,000 applicants in December 2021. None of the timelines are met for any of those children. In 2018, the percentage of assessments completed on time was only 8.8%. We should note that the system is only diagnosis-led and not needs-based. I am very concerned that a change to the new standard operating procedure has left parents with nothing. An assessment is now being done that only acknowledges that the child has specific needs. In truth, this one and a half hour assessment gives nothing to parents except another waiting list. It seems that the assessment is used only to meet the legal obligations of the HSE. All service statements vary, making it very difficult to get real answers and numbers. Again, I ask the HSE what is happening. Where is the accountability? Where is the service agreement? There is a child behind each of these statistics. Moreover, this is only to get the assessment done. What happens when a child's needs are identified following the assessment? Parents then join a struggle to get any of the services recommended.

The Ombudsman for Children has said that this is not a Covid problem but is an issue that has been going on for years. During the pandemic, I opened my office to St. Gabriel's. When the structures were changed in counties Limerick and Cork, County Limerick was left without any places in St. Gabriel's. I opened my office, cleaned it out and left it open for use. Thankfully, since then, St. Gabriel's has got funding to open another sector, which will be open shortly. I thank the Government for that. However, the HSE must be accountable.

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