Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: 21,762 Children Waiting for Assessments
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin spoke in the European Parliament in Brussels after meeting parents of children in Ireland who face long waits for assessments of need. He highlighted that 21,762 children are waiting, with an average wait of nearly 25 months and some families told to wait up to six years.
Summary of the intervention
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin set out the scale of the crisis facing Irish children with disabilities, stressing that parents have been forced to pursue legal action and public campaigning because the state would not listen. He argued this is not tokenism but systemic denial and discrimination of children’s rights.
Parents' testimony and presence in Brussels
He described his recent two-day meetings with parents - including Ali, Charlotte, Rebecca and Jane - and said their dignity, advocacy and testimony were overwhelming. They travelled to the Parliament because they were running out of time and needed action from elected representatives.
Rights and legal framing
Ó Ríordáin referenced Article 26 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to underline the right of children to participate, saying Irish children with disabilities have effectively no participation. He criticised a system that forces families to speak to lawyers and politicians rather than medical and educational professionals.
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Their children do not belong at the back of the bus, in the ha'penny place, to be unseen and unheard. It's been my honour to spend the last two days with these incredible parents. They represent four families out of the 21,762 in Ireland waiting for an assessment of need. Their dignity, the power of their advocacy, the pain of their testimony is overwhelming. What they want is the most unradical of aspirations, the best for their child. These parents have had to campaign, to pursue legal action, to open up the most intimate details of their lives to public scrutiny, with the hope that someone in authority will take action, to come here, to this Parliament, because their own government would not listen. It is perverse that to secure the best for their children, they must speak to lawyers and politicians, rather than medical and educational professionals. 20,000 children are waiting for an assessment of need, with an average wait of nearly 25 months, four times the legal limit. Some families have been told to wait up to six years. These children are losing the most critical early years of their development, while the state does nothing. This isn't a matter of tokenism, this is a matter of systemic denial and discrimination of the rights of children in Ireland. Article 26 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights outlines that children have a right to participate. Irish children with a disability have no participation. I applied to over 60 schools across the country. I stood in protests. I slept on the streets of Ireland to secure my daughter an education. This is not just a system under pressure. This is a system that has failed my child at every single stage of her life. Ali, Charlotte, Rebecca and Jane did not come to Brussels to be noted and filed. They came because their children and over 21,000 others are running out of time. Colleagues, your vote today is a choice to be another politician that has heard them or be one that has finally acted. Go raibh maith agat.
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