Families and schools under pressure from a disability service creaking at the seams – new figures released
Families and schools under pressure from a disability service creaking at the seams – new figures released - The Labour Party
New waiting list figures for initial assessments and treatment for children released to Labour Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD on the 9th of April highlight the alarming situation in Children’s Network Disability Teams and in primary care services.
These figures were released in advance of Labour’s private members motion on special education today, Wednesday, 30thof April.
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- 12,912 children are awaiting initial contact with a Children’s Disability Network Team.
- Of those, 8,875 children are waiting over 12 months for initial contact.
- The highest wait list is in CHO 9, which covers Dublin Central area, with 2,411 children waiting more than a year for an initial contact.
- The wait lists in CHO 4, CHO 7, CHO 8, and CHO 9 provided are particularly alarming.
- The largest waiting list is in psychology with 23,816 children awaiting treatment. Of those, 11,552 of these are waiting more than one year. The highest regional waiting list is CHO 4 (Kerry/Cork) with 6216 children on psychology waiting lists, followed by CHO 7 with 3,549 on waiting lists.
- 22,068 children are awaiting first time assessments for occupational therapy. 10,476 children are waiting more than one year.
- 18,934 children are waiting initial assessment for speech and language therapy. 5154 of these children are waiting more than one year, and shockingly, 539 are waiting more than two years.
- Schools and educators are doing the heavy lifting for a disability service that is creaking at the seams.
Speaking on the release of these new figures and in advance of Labour’s motion on special education, Deputy Sherlock said:
“These new figures released to me paint a worrying picture that children’s disability services are in crisis and unable to cope with the demand due to staffing numbers, growth in the numbers of children requiring support, and the demand for assessment of need.
“In CHO 9, which covers my own constituency, 2411 children are waiting more than twelve months for initial contact with the Children’s Disability Network Team in CHO 9. I know that across Dublin Central, staffing numbers are down, which is placing great strain on staff providing services and families awaiting a service.
“We know that a crucial issue is that many children are not getting the timely support that they need outside of school which is impacting on their education. This week, the Labour Party is introducing a motion to the floor of the Dáil calling for action on special education. Schools and educators are doing the heavy lifting for a disability service that is creaking at the seams.
“It is alarming that more than 10,000 children across Ireland are waiting more than twelve months for treatment by psychologists. This is causing great stress on children, parents, and those who support them. It is teachers and school staff who manage children with these complex needs. Without support from the HSE, school staff will continue to endure this stress, and young people and their parents will continue to suffer unnecessarily.
“I am continuously hearing from parents who are having to fight tooth and nail for their child to have access to assessments and therapies. Parents have staged two sleep outs so far because of the lack of available school places for children with additional needs and the lack of supports available for their children. It should not be this way.
“Every day matters in a child’s early life. Early intervention is crucial if children are to thrive, and unfortunately, children are being failed in this regard. It is long past time for coordinated action to address this issue of the lack of access to therapies and treatment by the Minister for Children and Disability, Minister for Education, and Minister for Health.
“I welcome the commitment by the Minister for Education, in response to a parliamentary question to me on 25 February 2025, to introduce the Educational Therapy Support Service Strand II which will provide in-school therapy for a period of 24 months.
“We need a clear timeline from the Minister that sets out when this model will be available in every county which could be transformative in supporting children with additional needs, and more ambition to go beyond the initial projected staffing of 39 therapists. I am calling on the Government to support our motion which calls for the roll out of much needed in-school therapists, as well ensuring that every child will have a school place in September.”
ENDS
Notes:
Figures are available at this link:
The PQ response covered both CDNT and services provided through primary care services. Figures are up to the end of December 2024, other than CDNT wait list which is to the end of January.
CDNT figures: This is an interim dataset as HSE await the roll out of the National Information Management System and some individual CDNTs indicate that they do not have a system in place to capture this level of activity, therefore there are gaps in data returns for some of the CHO Areas.