Richard Boyd Barrett: 18,000 Children on Assessment Waiting Lists
Richard Boyd Barrett criticised government failures over supports for children with additional needs, highlighting rising waiting lists for assessments and scarce services. He said 18,000 children with disabilities and additional needs are on waiting lists and warned children are regressing because of staff shortages in cdnts and cams.
He thanked Sinn Féin for bringing the motion and paid particular tribute to Cara Darmody and her father for their campaigning. He said it was an "absolute shame" Cara had to stand in storm conditions to make the point about unmet legal rights and entitlements for children with additional needs and disabilities.
He described growing waiting lists for assessments of needs and cited a figure of 18,000 children with disabilities and additional needs on those lists. He said assessments are critical to accessing supports, but many children wait or never receive the services they require.
He warned that even when assessments are completed the services are often absent because of staffing shortages in cdnts and cams. He said clinicians are seeing children regressing and parents in despair as supports fail to materialise, framing the issue as a matter of equal chances for children with additional needs.
He raised overlaps with housing, saying precarious or overcrowded housing and time in homeless hubs can prevent access to services. He alleged that in "Delirio at down" local authorities are ignoring specialist recommendations - such as those from OTs - on priority housing for children with developmental delays or autism, because of perceived additional housing demand.
He characterised the situation as beyond disgraceful, emphasising the human cost: deterioration in children's development and mounting distress among parents. He positioned the failures as government responsibility for vindicating legal entitlements and providing adequate staffing and supports.
Campaigners acknowledged
He thanked Sinn Féin for bringing the motion and paid particular tribute to Cara Darmody and her father for their campaigning. He said it was an "absolute shame" Cara had to stand in storm conditions to make the point about unmet legal rights and entitlements for children with additional needs and disabilities.
Scale of waiting lists and assessments
He described growing waiting lists for assessments of needs and cited a figure of 18,000 children with disabilities and additional needs on those lists. He said assessments are critical to accessing supports, but many children wait or never receive the services they require.
Service shortfalls and clinical consequences
He warned that even when assessments are completed the services are often absent because of staffing shortages in cdnts and cams. He said clinicians are seeing children regressing and parents in despair as supports fail to materialise, framing the issue as a matter of equal chances for children with additional needs.
Housing and priority decisions
He raised overlaps with housing, saying precarious or overcrowded housing and time in homeless hubs can prevent access to services. He alleged that in "Delirio at down" local authorities are ignoring specialist recommendations - such as those from OTs - on priority housing for children with developmental delays or autism, because of perceived additional housing demand.
Consequences for children and families
He characterised the situation as beyond disgraceful, emphasising the human cost: deterioration in children's development and mounting distress among parents. He positioned the failures as government responsibility for vindicating legal entitlements and providing adequate staffing and supports.
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Transcript
I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion and in particular thank Cara Darmody and her father for their fantastic campaigning but it is an absolute shame that Cara is out there in that weather at the moment and that she feels the need to do this in those storm conditions because of the failure of the government to vindicate the legal rights and entitlements of children with additional needs and disabilities it's really absolutely shocking that she has to go to these lengths it is obviously beyond disgraceful that the waiting lists for assessments of needs continue to rise thousands more than the last time I certainly looked at this 18,000 children with disabilities with additional needs on these waiting lists and then even if they get the assessment of needs but obviously getting that is critical often to accessing the supports and services that they need but then even if they get the they get the assessment of needs the services are not there because of the lack of staffing in the cdnts and cams and the consequence I'm certainly seeing at the moment in my clinic is children are regressing because this is all about giving an equal chance to children with additional needs and disabilities to other children that's why they need the supports but what's actually happening is they're regressing because there are waiting lists for these and their parents are in absolute despair because their children are deteriorating or and this is where it also overlaps with housing if you have the double problem after you're also in a precarious housing situation or you're overcrowded or you're in a homeless hub that you can't even get the services because the conditions you're living in and one thing I want to highlight to the minister is in Delirio at down now I don't know if this is true elsewhere they are now even when OTs or other specialists in the area have identified priority housing requirements for children with disabilities or with special needs the council is saying there's too many kids with developmental delays or with autism so we're we're ignoring that as a priority we're not willing to take it on board as a priority because that would mean there would be even more housing demand on us so therefore we're not listening to what the specialists say it was absolutely disgraceful because the consequence of this is children suffering thanks