86. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current waiting times for the Children's Disability Network Team services in Galway and nationally; the vacancies that currently exist within those teams; and the specific actions being taken to ensure children can access assessments and therapies within clinically appropriate timeframes. [64933/26]

The Government is committed to ensuring that children with disabilities and their families who need early intervention and therapy input can access that support in a timely way.

Children's Disability Network Teams provide services to children with complex needs arising from their disability under the progressing disability services model of service delivery.

Waiting lists for specific therapy interventions are not collated on county level however I can provide the data for HSE West and Northwest which includes Galway, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, West Cavan, Mayo and Roscommon.

The HSE have indicated that there are 1,043 children currently waitlisted for Children’s Disability Network Team services across the HSE West and Northwest RHA at the end of July 2026, and nationally there are 6,899 children awaiting an initial contact from a Children’s Disability Network Team.

Whilst recognising that there is more to do, real progress has been made in reducing the Children’s Disability Network Team waiting list.

Health Service Executive preliminary data indicates that the national Children’s Disability Network Team waiting list has reduced by over 60%, from 16,522 children awaiting an initial contact with a Children’s Disability Network Team in 2023 to 6,217 children at the end of June 2026.

The overall Health Service Executive Disability Budget for 2026 has seen a growth to more than €3.8 billion, which equates to a nearly 20% increase from the previous year.

The Government has provided funding for additional posts to enhance the capacity of Children’s Disability Network Teams and shorten the waiting times in recent years, with further investment in both Budgets 2025 and 2026 to fund additional therapy posts and clinical trainee places. Funding was also secured for additional posts in children's disability network teams, with further investment to fund 150 posts for teams across the country.

In the period between October 2023 and October 2025, the Children’s Disability Network Team workforce has increased by 28% with an additional 448 WTE on Children’s Disability Network Teams, of which approximately 320 are Health and Social Care Professionals. This growth has supported the reduction in waiting lists and an increase in the support provided.

The HSE is currently undertaking a Children’s Disability Network Team workforce review to identify the specific workforce needs and provide the clarity needed to continue to identify and action additional Children’s Disability Network Team specific workforce initiatives to complement those already underway such as the 2026 HSCP new graduate sponsorship programme.

A dedicated disability workforce strategy is being worked on by the HSE and will be published this year. The strategy will help to meet growing service demands and address recruitment and retention challenges across specialist disability services, including CDNTs such as those in the Deputy's area.

The HSE is introducing a Single Point of Access system for referral to children’s services and implementing a national Autism Assessment Protocol to support the delivery of autism assessments.

Finally I Would note that the HSE is also in the process of recruiting the first-ever dedicated National Director for Disability as well as six new Regional Disability Leads in the health regions to advance disability services.