The number of children awaiting assessments of need for disability or autism services for six months or longer will grow from 15,000 now to 25,000 by the end of the year, the HSE estimates.
Huge increases in the numbers of people seeking assessments of need due to their disability and/or autism have overwhelmed the system, with HSE projections showing the situation is expected to deteriorate significantly this year.
More than 15,000 children are now waiting longer than six months for an assessment of need, but that number is expected to grow to 25,000 by the end of the year, the HSE has told Labour TD Alan Kelly.
Under disability legislation, children are entitled to an assessment of need, a formal process which evaluates their condition and what services they require, within six months of applying for it.
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The Government will come under intense pressure on services for children with autism this week with a 50-hour protest by a 14 year-old activist outside the gates of Leinster House and questions and a motion from Opposition leaders on the floor of the Dáil.
Cara Darmody, a disability rights activist from Co Tipperary who has previously met the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Children says she will begin a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House on Tuesday morning to protest at delays in providing assessments of need to children.
Opposition leaders will meet Ms Darmody before putting questions to the Taoiseach in the Dáil. The Government has also allocated 3½ hours on Tuesday for statements on the issue, while Sinn Féin has put down a motion for debate on Tuesday evening demanding that the Government takes emergency action to comply with its legal responsibilities under disability legislation.
Ms Darmody campaigned last year for the government to allocate extra funding for assessments of need – leading to an allocation of €10 million in the budget, which then taoiseach Simon Harris described as “Cara’s fund”.
Ms Darmody also met the Minister for Children Norma Foley last week to discuss the issue and has tabled a number of “asks”: for the Government to declare a “national emergency for children”; increased funding to deal with waiting lists for assessments of need; the creation of a taskforce to address difficulties in the recruitment of staff; additional funding for services for children with autism; and that she be allowed to address the Cabinet committee on disability.
Ms Darmody says her activism was initially motivated by the experiences of her two younger brothers who have autism and intellectual disabilities but that she is now focused on the “national picture”.
Her father Mark says that his two sons Neil (12) and John (8) “receive almost no services from the State”.
“Neil in particular is among the most profoundly intellectually disabled children possible and was failed dramatically by the HSE,” he told The Irish Times.
Government sources acknowledge that they are likely to come under extreme pressure on the issue this week, especially after making promises to improve disability services during the general election campaign.
In a statement, a spokesman for Ms Foley said: “We fully acknowledge that the waiting lists for assessments of need are far too long and that this has a significant impact on the lives of children and their families.”
The statement added that the Government will introduce a series of reforms to overhaul the entire system and that proposals have been repeatedly discussed by the Cabinet committee, including legislative change.
But Government sources admit that capacity constraints will continue to mean people are waiting for assessments. Meanwhile, some parents have resorted to legal action to force the State to provide services.
