Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)

I speak today about one of the most shameful ongoing failures of this Government, namely the persistent and unlawful delays in completing assessments of need for children with disabilities. I have just come from outside Leinster House where I talked with the father of Cara Darmody. They are all exhausted. This is a 14-year-old girl who has to sleep outside Leinster House to fight for services for children with disabilities.

Under the Disability Act 2005, it is not a suggestion but the law that an assessment must be commenced and completed within six months of an application being made. However, the reality is very different. Across this State, the legal right to which I refer is being violated every day. We have families waiting 12, 18 and even 24 months or longer simply to get initial assessments. This is not just an administrative delay; it is a denial of people's rights and has real and irreversible consequences for our children. Early intervention changes lives. A delay in assessment means a delay in therapy, in support at school, in speech and occupational therapy and in mental health interventions. All this is happening while children regress and families are left in limbo.

As the mother of a child with additional needs, I know the toll this takes not just on the child but also on the entire family. I refer to the anxiety, the exhaustion and the constant advocacy just to get what your child is legally entitled to. Assessments of need are now overdue for 15,296 children. That is 15,296 families. The Government knows the system is broken. We now have a growing backlog and understaffed children's disability network teams, CDNTs. There is just a complete lack of transparency regarding how the Government intends to meet its legal obligation. As Cara said to the Taoiseach outside Leinster House, you are breaking the law. Where is the accountability? Where is the emergency plan to clear these backlogs? Where is the leadership to stand up and say that children with disabilities deserve better than this?

I call on the Government to immediately publish a clear national plan to bring the State back into compliance with the Disability Act 2005, to fully staff and fund all the CDNTs and to stop relying on agency cover and temporary workarounds, provide real-time reporting on waiting lists and hold senior management accountable when timelines are breached. Children with disabilities are not optional and their rights are not negotiable. This Government is just failing them and is breaking the law by doing so. We cannot accept this situation. Emergency funding needs to be put into Cara's fund now.