Brendan Smith: Urgent plea on children's therapy delays
Brendan Smith challenged the assessment of needs system in the Dáil, arguing it is failing children with additional needs in Cavan and Monaghan and calling for urgent action. He pressed the HSE to prioritise staffing, faster autism assessments and timely follow-up therapies for families under pressure.
What Brendan Smith said
Brendan Smith set out his concerns about a system that, he said, "has not been working" for children with additional needs. He highlighted repeated parliamentary questions and written representations he has raised on behalf of families who face long waits for assessments and therapies.
Local impact and service gaps
Smith described the consequences for families in Cavan and Monaghan: anger and frustration at delays, parents on limited incomes paying privately, and the effects of historic staff shortages in the Children's Disability Network team provided by Enable Ireland.
Official response and recruitment figures
A ministerial response acknowledged long waits in the region and cited a national recruitment campaign. Since 2020, about 40 therapists were recruited in Cavan and Monaghan, bringing the local total to 117. National staffing was said to have increased by 28% with over 500 applications to the CD&T campaign and about 448 additional hotel equivalents added.
What this means going forward
Smith insisted faster access to diagnosis and follow-up therapies is essential and that the HSE must prioritise therapists in Cavan and Monaghan. The exchange underscores ongoing pressure on services and the need to translate recruitment figures into faster, tangible support for families.
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The assessment of needs system has not been working. That system has not served those children with additional needs, nor has it served their families. I sincerely hope that the new autism assessment system works. Much faster access to assessment is absolutely essential, and follow-up therapies if needed. Time and time again I have highlighted in this chamber, through parliamentary questions and also through written representations, the totally unacceptable delays in children with additional needs in Cavanagh and Monaghan accessing therapies. Parents who have been waiting and waiting for therapies for their children are justifiably angry and extremely frustrated at the lack of timely supports and interventions. Enable Ireland provides the Children's Disability Network team in County Cavan, and historically there have been staff shortages there, impacting so severely on children who need those supports. Parents on limited incomes are paying for private provision, another source of pressure on them. The staff shortages and therapists across Cavanagh and Monaghan need to be prioritised by the HSE as requiring urgent attention. Those families cannot continue to wait and wait. Thank you. Thank you very much, Deputy, for raising this important issue. I know you've been advocating very strongly on behalf of children and families in Cavanagh and Monaghan. And yes, those counties have been facing some of the longest waits in the country for children's therapies, and the root cause for that has been a chronic staffing deficit. Now I know that your instigation minister, Foley, visited the region recently, acknowledged directly that the system is not serving children and families as it should. However, there is a national recruitment campaign. Since 2020, about 40 therapists have been recruited in Cavanagh and Monaghan, bringing the total to 117 there. The national CD&T recruitment campaign attracted over 500 applications. Appointments are actively being progressed, and staffing has increased by 28% nationally. That's about 448 additional hotel equivalents, and the waiting lists are coming down. But the minister is also changing the modus operandi in terms of how things are going to be done.
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