Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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112. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total number of children on waiting lists for an assessment of needs; the average waiting time; the measures she intends to take to tackle these waiting lists for children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8180/25]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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Before asking this question, I wish the Minister of State well in her new role because I did not have an opportunity to do so earlier. This question is to ask the Minister of State about the number of children on waiting lists for assessments of needs, the average waiting time for the children on the waiting lists and, more importantly, I suppose, the measures she intends to take to tackle these very long and record-level waiting lists.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Government recognises that waiting lists for assessments of need are far too long and have a significant impact on the needs of children and their families. It should be noted that children who require services from a children's disability network team, CDNT, do not require a diagnosis or a statutory assessment of need, AON. However, it is a fact that demand for AONs has increased significantly in recent years, which is a reflection of both the increase in population and of families exploring all options for accessing services for their children. The HSE advises that in 2024 it received 10,690 AON applications, which is more than double the 4,700 applications received in 2020. The most recent data from the HSE shows that 14,221 AONs were overdue for completion at the end of December 2024.

Work is ongoing by the HSE to increase the capacity of CDNTs to deliver therapy interventions to children and produce assessments of need. It is notable that the HSE reports a 30% increase in the number of AONs completed in 2024 compared with 2023. This has been achieved by a number of measures, including the waiting list initiative agreed by the Government last May. It targets those families waiting the longest for assessments of needs, with funding provided for the procurement of assessments from approved private providers. The HSE advises that more than 2,400 assessments of needs were commissioned from private providers over seven months in 2024. This initiative will continue in 2025 with €10 million in funding allocated to deliver some 2,850 assessments of needs and allow for additional capacity in the assessment teams in the form of assessment and liaison officers. In 2023, on foot of a direct request from the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, the HSE also developed AON administrative hubs in community healthcare areas. I will leave it there for the moment.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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On the very high figure of more than 14,000 children and the demand increase, this is fine and part of it, of course, is related to population. I would not say, though, that part of it is parents exploring all options for their children, particularly if they can go through the CDNTs without an assessment of need. We must be really careful in terms of the things we say concerning this matter because, for those children who are on a waiting list, and their parents especially, waiting and waiting is extremely stressful and worrying. The parents know the situation all the time as long as the child is waiting and waiting. We must be mindful too that the waiting list for an assessment of need is only step one. It is then typically necessary to move on to another list for whatever therapy is needed and children may actually end up on a number of waiting lists. We must, therefore, be very careful in terms of how we speak about the increase and what it means. If the Minister of State does have the opportunity, I would like if she could expand on her final comment on the AON administration hubs and what this means.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is entirely correct about the stress, frustration, worry and anger of parents out there, and I absolutely acknowledge this point. They want access to therapies for their children. In many cases, they also want a diagnosis. There is a combination of reasons why people look for assessments of need. I absolutely accept that.

The administrative hubs are in CHOs 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8. Established assessment hubs are also in CHOs 3, 6 and 9. The AON administration hubs will aim to provide a single point for receipt of AON applications and allocation to assessment officers to ensure a spread of demand of assessment officers across all available resources. The roll-out of the regional assessment hubs sees the provision of personnel dedicated to the delivery of assessments of needs while preserving the time of other clinical staff for therapy interventions for children and their families. I absolutely accept, therefore, that this matter is about therapies as well and this is another body of work we are doing in the Department with the HSE to ensure we are recruiting and retaining therapists.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Regarding those on the waiting lists, and this is an issue I have written to the Minister of State about, I take the opportunity to flag a communication issued by the HSE to parents with a child or children on the waiting lists for assessments of needs in the last couple of weeks. It told parents that if they did not respond to say their child still wanted the assessment of needs and to remain on the waiting list by a certain date, they would be taken off the waiting list. I raise this issue here because parents are already under enough pressure. I do not think it is right for the HSE to put it back on parents. I have seen the communication. It states this action must be undertaken to progress the application, which really does not make any sense at all at all. These children are on the waiting list for the assessments of need. Parents should not be told their children will be taken off the waiting list if they do not respond to the HSE and confirm they want their children to remain on it. I would be concerned that children would be removed if this is what the HSE is doing. I have seen the communication. I ask the Minister of State to please ensure no child is removed from the waiting list for assessments of needs because their parent did not respond to this request from the HSE.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I will certainly follow up with the HSE on that issue. What we want to do here is ensure that children and others with disabilities, including adults, are getting the therapies and services they need and require. That is my focus, that of the Minister, Deputy Foley, and of the Government. I refer to ensuring that we have the services and therapies required, be they occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists or whatever therapies it might be, to ensure we are addressing the needs of our young people and people with disabilities right across the country. My door is open and I welcome the Deputy's feedback. I want to try to respond and we all need to work on this area together. The Deputy has my commitment on that.