Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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94. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to update on the number of children currently awaiting a CDNT appointment, by CDNT in Cork. [32428/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Children’s disability services are primarily focused on therapeutic supports for children and young people with complex requirements, including those with autism and other neurodiverse needs.

The National Programme on Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People is the guiding policy for children’s services. The policy aims to provide for all children with significant disability, regardless of diagnosis, where they live or where they go to school.

The Progressing Disability Service is a needs-led model of service, where a child does not require a diagnosis to access services, and CDNTs provide a multidisciplinary assessment of individual needs and strengths, in line with the UNCRPD and rights-based approach.

This policy led to the establishment of Children’s Disability Network Teams who assess children with complex needs.

There are currently 93 CDNTs in place.

There are 14 Children’s Disability Network Teams or “CDNTs” operating in HSE South West region; 11 are in Cork.

A wait list is maintained for those awaiting initial contact.

As of April 2025, there are 6,319 children on the caseload of Cork’s 11 CDNTs and 563 awaiting initial contact.

Increasing the Disability Sector Workforce and reducing waiting lists for therapy services is a key priority of Government.

While recruitment and retention of staff is a challenge across the sector overall, a significant focus of the Government is filling vacant posts within the 93 CDNTs. I am pleased to note that, as of the latest data from the 2025 CDNT Workforce survey, the CDNT workforce has grown to 2,009 Whole Time Equivalents (WTEs).

This represents an overall growth since October 2023 of 414.5 WTE, reducing the corresponding vacancy rate down from 29% to 18% during that period. This is the lowest vacancy rate since October 2021.

Tailored approaches to attract and retain CDNT staff are being developed and implemented at a multi- agency level to build and recruit a pipeline of talent for CDNTs. These initiatives include active and sustained engagement with the employment market and students to improve the perception of and interest in working in CDNTs.

I am committed to ensuring that we continue to grow the availability of services and ensure children’s needs are met in a timely manner.