Growing numbers of children and their families across Ireland are being left waiting for assessments of need well in excess of the legal timeframes permitted. According to the Disability Act 2005, an assessment of need must be completed within six months of the date the application is received. I have received new figures from the HSE which show that, at the end of 2024, there were 14,221 children overdue an assessment of need. That is an increase of nearly 60% compared with 2023. That is 60% in just 12 months.

As the Taoiseach knows, early intervention is key. Getting a quick assessment followed by services and supports means the child can reach their full potential. According to the HSE, the average duration of the assessment period is now more than two years - two years. Even more, when a child gets their assessment of need, they can be left waiting years for services and supports which often never materialise. The State is failing children and their families. This is creating huge stress and pressure. Children are being left behind during these critical early years of their development. To make matters worse, we cannot even rely on these figures. In some areas, manipulation of waiting lists is taking place. Some families have been told their child has been put on a waiting list to be put on a waiting list. Not only is this completely disingenuous, it adds to the significant stress and pressure families experience.

The situation is so bad that there are now several law firms who will issue a legal complaint to the HSE on a family's behalf after three months and initiate legal proceedings after six months. This typically results in the HSE providing an assessment of need through contracting a private service. Families who do not go down this route are left at the back of the queue while legal costs for the State are mounting. Instead of the State forking out money on legal fees, would it not be much better to instead spend the money on ensuring the legal timeframes are met in the first place?

During the election campaign, the Taoiseach said the establishment of multidisciplinary teams in schools, including speech and language and occupational therapists, would be a red-line issue for Fianna Fáil if it were returned to Government. He also said work would begin on this on day one. Will the Taoiseach tell the 14,221 children and their families who are overdue an assessment of need what this Government is doing about it? When will the Government meet the six-month legal timeframe for completing the assessment of needs, and when will the multidisciplinary teams that were promised be put in place?

Deputy O'Callaghan is correct insofar as I identified the provision of a schools-based multidisciplinary therapy service, particularly in special schools, as a core priority and red-line issue of mine. We are pursuing it. I have already had meetings with my officials and we will be convening a meeting with all relevant Ministers and agencies in respect of delivering on that. There were attempts at a pilot initiative on that front in the past year which did not yield the outcomes both the HSE and the Department anticipated it would. That was based on a HSE model. That is one initiative we have to take but it will not solve all the issues. The CDNTs are recruiting, so it is not a funding issue. They have, however, had challenges recruiting therapists to the model established since the progressing disabilities services programme was introduced in 2013, which has not worked. That is why I passionately believe in a schools-based system, especially in special schools to begin with.

We also must deal with the outcome of the 2022 High Court judgement of Ms Justice Phelan in the case of CTM and JA v. the HSE which found the preliminary team assessment approach described in the HSE's standing operating procedures for assessment did not meet the requirements of the Disability Act. We must deal with that through legislation. There has to be engagement if we want to move this on. This has had a huge impact on the assessment of need process and that must be acknowledged. There were issues around recruitment in that but that ruling has had, operationally, a significant impact on the situation. We need to admit that, and when I say "we", I mean we collectively in the House, but politically people may not want to deal with that. I believe we have to deal with that. It is just another step towards changing around the situation here.

We must then significantly increase the number of training places in our universities for therapists, particularly speech and language and occupational therapists, physiotherapists, audiologists and allied healthcare professionals. The last big initiative was taken when I was Minister for Health and Children in 2003 when we created new colleges. At that point, there was only one college in Ireland training speech and language therapists, but we need to double down on that in this era and create significantly more places in our third level colleges in this area. In the interim period, the HSE has been facilitating parents with private sector services and accessing private providers. I want a national health-based system for clinical assessment and then an education system for special schools.

A total of 90% of assessments of need are being done outside of the legal timeframe. This is the law. It is not an optional extra for the Taoiseach or the Government. I am not clear from the Taoiseach's answer if the Government is going to meet the legal requirements of the Disability Act. Is it going to take action so that 90% turns to 0% so the Taoiseach and his Government are compliant with the law on this? Is it the intention of the Government not to meet the requirements of the Disability Act? Will the Taoiseach be clear on that? Is the Government going to take action to meet the requirements of the Disability Act or is it intending not to do so and allow the current situation to continue?

We are not prepared to allow the current situation to continue. All focus will be on improving access to therapies, for children in particular, and turning around the entire approach from the earliest days of a child coming out of paediatric services. There is not a sufficient link between coming out of paediatric services and follow-on services. In some cases, however, the needs of children will not be immediately apparent. Some manifest later in a child's life, but there needs to be far greater synergy between the world of paediatrics and the follow-up and early childcare services. We also need to increase significantly the capacity, context and environment for therapists to work. There have been challenges within the CDNTs. In many cases, the workload has been particularly onerous and many therapists have left the service. There is now a difficulty recruiting therapists to the service, notwithstanding the funding we made available to enable them to do so.