Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Tens of thousands of children with additional needs are being failed by this Government.

Some 14,221 children are overdue an assessment of need. New figures released to me show the scale of the crisis for children trying to access essential therapies. At the end of December, there were more than 41,000 children waiting for an initial assessment for speech, language and occupational therapy. The figures for occupational therapy are particularly stark. Of the more than 22,000 children waiting for their first assessment, nearly half have been waiting for more than a year.

Disability services were an issue that the Tánaiste said he would prioritise when he was Taoiseach. The current Taoiseach has said the same thing. Do these shameful figures reflect an issue that has been prioritised by Government? Is it any wonder that parents are at breaking point? Every day, they endure stress and heartbreak watching their children denied the services they need to reach their full potential. In some cases, children are regressing because they are not getting any supports. Parents are having to scrimp and save trying to pay privately for therapy because the only thing that one is guaranteed in the public system is a place on the waiting list. This level of endemic dysfunction is reflective of a broken and failed system.

More and more parents are being forced into litigation to get an assessment of need for their children. The number of legal actions being taken against the State has skyrocketed. In the past five years alone, the State has spent more than €8 million on cases taken by parents who are fighting for an assessment of need for their children. That €8 million would pay the salaries of 180 occupational therapists or 130 psychologists. Imagine the positive impact that would have on the lives of the tens of thousands of children currently on waiting lists. Instead, it is being spent on cases that families should not be forced to take.

We have been told that, when assessments of need do not adhere to legal timeframes, the litigation strategy of the State is not to contest these cases. Given that 90% of assessments of need are being completed well outside of the legal timeframes, is the Government now effectively saying to families that they need to take legal action to get an assessment of need for their children and vindicate their rights?

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