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

The overall HSE disability budget for 2025 has increased to €3.2 billion. That equates to an 11.6% increase over the previous year. This matter remains an extremely high priority for the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, for the Government and for senior leadership within the HSE. The HSE is supporting families of children while they are on waiting lists. These initiatives include access to webinars, workshops and advice clinics among other measures. This will ensure families continue to receive engagement from teams as they await further supports.

It is important to reiterate that a child does not require a statutory assessment of need to access disability services. It is also important to acknowledge that the CDNTs are providing services and supports to more than 42,000 children via 92 dedicated teams across the country. These teams are providing strategies and supports for urgent cases on the waiting lists where staffing resources allow. This Government provided funding for additional posts to enhance the capacity of CDNTs and shorten waiting times in recent years. In 2025, €25 million has been made available for children's services building on existing recruitment initiatives with funding focused on various positions across the CDNTs, including 20 senior therapist posts, 20 staff grade posts, 20 health and social care assistant posts and 15 clinical trainee posts. Detailed engagement continues between the Minister of State's officials and the HSE to seek practical and implementable solutions to address the issues of waiting lists for both assessments of need and interventions. I assure the Deputy that the matter is receiving the most urgent attention.

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