Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this important issue. The Government and the HSE are fully committed to enhancing services to better support children with disabilities in Ireland. The Progressing Disability Services Roadmap 2023-2026 focuses on the ongoing development of CDNTs to meet current and growing demand. A child does not require a diagnosis to access services. CDNTs provide a multidisciplinary assessment of individual needs and strengths as well as therapy supports.

The demand for assessments of need has increased significantly in recent years, a reflection of both the increase of population and of families exploring all options for accessing services for their children. The HSE advises that 10,690 applications for assessments of need were received in 2024, with approximately 4,160 completed, which is a 30% increase on the 3,205 applications completed in 2023. Demand for assessments of need has more than doubled compared with the 4,700 applications received in 2020.

In CHO 9, 1,690 assessment of need applications were received in 2024, which marks a 14% increase from 2022 when 1,467 assessment of need applications were received. As of December 2024, 3,193 assessments of need applications in CHO 9 were overdue for completion. The HSE has also advised that in CHO 9, 2,086 children were offered an initial contact, individual or group intervention with a CDNT in December 2024, while 2,596 were waiting for an initial contact at the end of the month.

While recruitment and retention of staff are a challenge across the sector overall, a significant focus of the Government is filling vacant posts within the 93 CDNTs which are providing supports for more than 42,000 children. The Government has provided funding for additional posts to enhance the capacity of CDNTs in recent years. The HSE has advised that there was a net addition of 272 staff in CDNTs in 2024, a 17% increase compared with 2023. Ongoing recruitment and retention measures include: the HSE facilitating direct access for funded agencies to existing HSE health and social care professionals panels, which will shorten the recruitment process and provide direct access to competent and eligible candidates; the Department of children and equality working with the HSE to seek to introduce specific recruitment and retention incentives for therapists who work in CDNTs and a CDNT sponsorship programme with bursaries for fourth year and postgraduate students linked to acceptance of conditional job offers; placements on CDNTs continuing to be expanded alongside a continued expansion in the number of places in higher education; and the roll-out of regional assessment hubs, including in CHO 9, which will see the provision of personnel dedicated to the delivery of assessments of need, while preserving the time for other clinical staff for purposes of therapy interventions.

In May 2024, the Government announced a decision to finance the assessment of need waiting list initiative through the procurement of private assessments for long-waiting families. Between June and December 2024, some 2,479 assessments of need were commissioned from private providers at a total cost of approximately €8.2 million. The Government has provided funding for additional posts to enhance the capacity of CDNTs and shorten waiting times in recent years, with a further investment in budget 2025 to fund additional therapy posts and clinical trainee places.

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