Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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549. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the additional funding allocated in 2025 to address the waiting list for assessments of need; if this funding is being provided from new resources or by reallocation from existing services; and the estimated number of additional assessments that will be delivered by the private panel in its first year of operation. [49840/25]

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

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.

Over the past year, there has been a noted improvement in the number of completed Assessments with over 4,100 completed in 2024, an increase of 30% compared to 2023. Recent HSE data shows that this trend is continuing this year with a 58% increase in completed assessments in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period last year. This has been achieved by a number of measures, including the Assessment of Need Targeted Waitlist Initiative which funds the procurement of capacity from private providers to deliver clinical assessments, targeting those families waiting longest.

Funding of €9.5m has been provided for the initiative this year building on the €6.89 million allocated in 2024. This funding was allocated specifically for the Targeted Waitlist Initiative to address the Assessment of Need backlog and is not a reallocation from existing services. HSE data to the end of June 2025 shows that almost 5,000 assessments have been commissioned from private providers in the first 12 months of this Initiative.

While Government remains committed to utilising private capacity to support the completion of AON into 2026, we cannot rely on the private sector indefinitely so we must ensure that the public system can meet the clearly growing demand. This 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. This includes improved training for staff involved in the delivery of AONs, additional administrative supports, and plans to increase the numbers of Assessment Officers, Liaison Officers and administrative support.

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