Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Taoiseach all the best personally. I know it is not an easy day for him but I wish him the best for the future.

In the programme for Government, the Government committed to reducing waiting times for assessments of need under the Disability Act 2005 by using the standard operating procedure the former Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, introduced in January 2020. However, parents became very quickly aware of the shortcomings of that approach and aware that the rights of their children were being undermined by an inadequate assessment. In 2022, as the Taoiseach will recall, the High Court struck down the standard operating procedure. The HSE was found to be shortcutting disability rights.

Now assessment of need waiting lists are longer than ever. Children are entitled to assessment within three months; few, if any, receive it in that timeframe. There are 8,900 children whose assessment is overdue, and most are overdue by more than three months. That is not to mention the other children, maybe more than 5,000, who were robbed of a proper assessment of their needs. These children's rights are being denied and they deserve better. The Government has spent time in office finding shortcuts around the rights of people with disabilities instead of planning to meet their needs. What is the Government's plan to tackle the backlog of assessments of need and to deliver fit-for-purpose, proper disability services for children?

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