Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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2397. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures being taken to reduce the waiting times for children awaiting an assessment of need; the average waiting time by region and reason for variances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42377/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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This Government absolutely recognises that waiting times for Assessment of Need (AON) are far too long and have a significant impact on delivering on the needs of children and their families. Both this Department and the HSE have been working intensively to progress measures to reduce waiting times.

It is important to emphasise that, while children have a right to apply for an AON, they do not need one in order to access health services, including those provided by Primary Care, Children’s Disability Network Teams or Mental Health Services. Nevertheless, demand for AONs has increased significantly in recent years, a reflection of both the increase in population and of families exploring all options for accessing services for their child.

This increased demand for AON is reflected in the number of applications which are now overdue for completion. The table below outlines the number of applications which were overdue for completion at the end of Q2 2025. Of the 16,593 applications that are overdue, 13,998 (84%) are overdue for longer than 3 months. The variance in the number of applications overdue across Health Areas can be attributed to the contrast in the number of applications received across these areas.

This improvement has been achieved by a number of measures, including the Assessment of Need waiting list initiative which funds the procurement of capacity from private providers to deliver assessments, targeting those families waiting longest. Funding of €9.5m has been provided for the initiative this year and HSE data to the end of June 2025 shows that almost 5,000 assessments have been commissioned from private providers since the initiative began in June 2024.

While I remain committed to utilising private capacity to support the completion of AON into the future, we cannot rely on the private sector indefinitely so we must ensure that the public system can meet the clearly growing demand. My Department is working with the HSE to ensure the delivery of actions to support the efficient delivery of Assessments of Need within the public system.

In addition, DCDE has been working intensively with the HSE to identify the appropriate legislative changes, with the intention of bringing forward legislation in the latter half of this year. In conjunction with this legislative reform, the Department and the HSE are as a matter of priority, progressing operational measures to address delays within the process and reduce waiting lists for AON

The provision of an effective and efficient AON system continues to be a priority for the Government.