Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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125. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her Department's plans to reduce the number of children waiting longer than three months for their assessment of need in CHO 9; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7572/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, on her appointment. I also congratulate the Minister, Deputy Foley, on her new portfolio. I ask the Minister of State to outline her Department's plans to reduce the number of children waiting longer than three months for their assessment of need in CHO 9.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The current delays in accessing assessments of need as well as therapy services are acknowledged and work is ongoing with the HSE to maximise the capacity of CDNTs to deliver therapy interventions to children and to produce assessments of need. This is being done via recruitment campaigns and other measures.

In October 2023, the HSE published a roadmap for service improvement that focuses on the ongoing development of CDNT services to meet current and growing demand. One of these measures is the Government's decision in May 2024 to finance an assessment of need waiting list initiative. This initiative targets those families waiting longest for AONs, with the HSE reimbursing clinicians directly through the procurement of capacity from approved private providers.

The HSE advises that by the end of 2024, in the order of 2,479 assessments of needs were commissioned from private providers during the months of June to December at a total cost of about €8.2 million. The Government has continued this assessment of need waiting list initiative into 2025 with targeted funding that will continue to enable the procurement of these assessments for long-waiting families. The HSE has advised that in CHO 9 in Dublin north-west, 2,086 children were offered an initial contact, individual or group intervention with a CDNT in December 2024, while 2,596 children were waiting for an initial contact at month end. In CHO 9 the demand for assessment of needs has increase by approximately 14% from 2022 to 2024.

The roll-out of regional assessment hubs, including in CHO 9, will see the provision of personnel dedicated to the delivery of assessment of needs, while preserving the time of other clinical staff for the purposes of therapy interventions for children within the CDNT network. I look forward to these measures, and others, being of benefit to children and families accessing these therapy services.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State has acknowledged there are more than 2,500 children in Dublin north waiting for assessment. I would very much like the area to be prioritised. Even though we are sourcing private assessments, a lot more needs to be done in the area.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy that more needs to be done. That is an absolute commitment from me, as Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, and the Government, to look at whatever we can do to make sure that children are getting their therapies. Also, as the Deputy knows, CHO 9 is composed of local health offices of north Dublin, Dublin north centre and north-west Dublin. Some 1,690 assessment of needs applications were received in CHO 9 in 2024. That marks, as I said, an increase of 14% from 2022. I do not know whether I told the Deputy this earlier but as of December 2024, 3,193 assessment of needs in CHO 9 were overdue for completion. An assessment of need administrative hub in CHO 9 will assist with preserving the time of other clinical staff for the purposes of those therapy interventions. The Deputy can be assured that I am working with my Department and with the HSE in addressing the waiting lists. We are doing everything we can around recruiting more therapists from third level institutions, both domestically and internationally. My door is open in relation to any suggestions the Deputy may have or indeed within her constituency which I will be visiting soon to make sure we are helping these children who need these assessments and these therapies.