Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)

As I have said, the Government absolutely recognises that waiting times for assessment of need is far too long and we are committed to reforming the assessment of need process.

Both this Department and the HSE have been working intensively to progress measures to address these waiting times. I want to emphasise again to parents that while children have a right to apply for the assessment of need, they do not need one to access health services, including those provided by primary care, CDNTs or mental health services.

Demand for assessments of need, as we all acknowledge, has increased significantly in recent years, which is a reflection of both the increase in population and an increase in the number of families exploring all options to ensure their children receive appropriate services.

The HSE advises that in 2024 it received more than 10,000 assessment of need applications, which is more than double the 4,700 applications received in 2020. The most recent data from the HSE show that at the end of March over 15,000 assessment of needs were overdue for completion. To address this, the HSE is working to increase its capacity to deliver assessment of need. Over the past year, there has been an improvement in the number of assessments of need completed, with an increase of 30% in 2024 compared to 2023. Recent HSE data show that this trend is continuing this year with a 65% increase in completed assessments of need in the first three months of the year compared to the same period last year.

This has been achieved by a number of measures, including the assessment of need waiting list initiative agreed by the Government, which targets those families waiting longest for an assessment of need with funding provided for the procurement of assessments from approved private providers.

As I said earlier in reply to the Deputy’s colleague, regional assessment hubs are being rolled out by the HSE. They are aligned with the six new HSE regions. We are also reviewing potential legislative changes in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General to support the effectiveness and efficiency of the assessment of need process.

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