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

Disability services in this country are chaotic and threadbare. Families of children with additional needs have to fight for the very basics. All they want for their children is to be able to access an education and appropriate services and a chance for them to fulfil their potential. The very first step for most is to get an assessment of need and there are now over 15,000 children who have been waiting more than the legal time limit of six months for assessments. I have met children - I am sure the Tánaiste has as well - who cannot yet speak and who are left waiting years for speech and language therapy. Year after year passes and, as they grow older, their isolation from other children grows. Early intervention would make an absolute world of difference.

Routinely, whenever this issue is mentioned, the Government blames a High Court decision from 2022. It is helpful to detail what was in that judgment. It found that an accelerated 90-minute assessment process in which children were diagnosed with a disability but not told what disability they had was illegal. It found a child's needs should determine the nature and length of the assessment. I wonder what part of that judgment the Tánaiste has a problem with. I have heard him refer to it as rigid. The only rigidity in the judgment is its staunch defence of the rights of children with disabilities.

That judgment was delivered more than three years ago. How long more will the Tánaiste continue to blame it for the Government's failure to respond to this crisis? When I asked the Taoiseach about this last week, he let the mask slip. He said the Government had not acted on the judgment because it could not agree what to do. That is quite an extraordinary admission. Is it the case that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael simply cannot get their act together and decide what to do? This indecision on the part of the Government is having a huge impact on children with additional needs and their families. A total of 15,000 children are now overdue assessments of need. That will grow to 25,000 by the end of the year. More and more children are being left behind.

There are actions the Government can take now to significantly boost recruitment in key services. The pay and numbers strategy must go. It is placing a stranglehold on recruitment in primary care. We need proper investment in staff, with secure contracts to boost employment in primary care and children's disability network teams.

Will the Tánaiste confirm the Taoiseach's admission that the Government has been unable to agree what to do over the past three years? At this late stage, has the Government finally decided what it is going to do following the High Court judgment?

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