Brian Stanley: Condemns decades of delays in children's assessments

I want to commend the campaign team and Cara and Mark Darmody as well. You shouldn't have to be here. This should have been sorted because people have been raising this for over two decades. The waiting times are scandalous. Under the Disability Act 2005, it's supposed to be six months max. So the law is clearly being broken here. 15,296 children are over due their assessment, assessment of need for special needs. And only 4,162 were carried out by the HSE in 2024 according to the figures. The 7%, only 7%, a measly 7% are being done within the legal timeframe of six months. This is clearly a failure in every count. And government is failing in its legal obligations. And according to the Minister, this could run to 25,000 by the year end, waiting for these assessments of needs. And in Leish, I can tell you, Minister, the waiting times to get an assessment of need are absolutely shocking. Aileen, a mother, which is one person who has got just one of many who are contacting me on this, waited for years to get her son an assessment of need. And then had to go private for it. And had to pay and had to have the assessment of need. And then a multidisciplinary assessment, which in total cost 2,000 euros on a family on a very modest income. For the past six years, she's been privately for therapies. Her child, her son, got just four short sessions in the six years. All of the other sessions she paid for. Her second daughter, her second child, is on the waiting list since the 19th of September 2023, and has not yet been called for an assessment of need. She can't get a reply by either telephone or by email as to when she may get one. And this is part of what parents are up again as well. They're left in the dark. There's just no answers. Sandra, her first daughter, was on a waiting list for a year and a half, another parent that I've dealt with, before getting an assessment of need. Her other daughter was put on a waiting list on the 12th of August last year, and she hasn't received any information whatsoever since then as to when she may be called, or will she be called. Assessment of need appointments, of course, is only the start of it. Once the assessment of need is done, the assessor has to do a report. They have to pass it on to a liaison officer. A service plan has to be drawn up. The liaison officer is then supposed to arrange the delivery of services. And this is where it really gets difficult, because the next battle, and I can tell you it's a battle in Leish, because they hardly exist. You have to try and do battle to try and get these sessions. And I'll just quote you the figures for the multidisciplinary teams in the CD&T teams in Leish. The level of staffing for occupational therapy is only at 33%. This is HSE figures, not mine. Speech and language therapy is at 46%. Physiotherapy is at 50%. And therapy assistance, zero. Dietetics, zero. Behavior therapists, I mean, this is incredible. You know, this is one of the most important positions on the team, is zero. So they're not there. It just doesn't exist. So what's happening is, what's happening in County Leish is, is parents are being offered group sessions. And that's fine and done. They might, they might, group sessions may have a role, where parents are brought in. And that's been offered in most cases, and nearly all cases, from what I can find out. But there's no services for the Child Minister. None whatsoever. Leish Offaly Families for Autism and other voluntary groups are filling the gaps as best they can. They pay 50% of the costs for the therapies, and the parents pay 50%. It's a stopgap solution. Loaf has spent 38,000 last year on matching funding to try and do this. This is not acceptable. And I would, you know, I would try and impress on you as best I can, that the Government comply with its legal obligations, take emergency action and make the funding available. Set specific target dates, you know, which the Government can comply with its legal obligation, and deliver long-term solutions. And that, as you know, my Minister, as you know as well as I do, that needs workforce planning. That workforce planning, we need to start training people, we need to start recruiting them, and we need to retain them. And one of the areas that's been mentioned in the past, for some of those disciplines, it may be appropriate, is to have apprenticeships. For some of those disciplines. I know it's not appropriate for some other ones. But Government really need to be imaginative about this, and push it on. We need to fund this special needs services, and provide this, and also provide appropriate school places. Because there's a lot of children still. I know there's work being done on it. But there are still children without places that are going to need them in September, and that work needs to be progressed quickly. Thank you very much.