Reducing the assessment of needs backlog
The HSE’s assessment of need (AON) process for people with disabilities is set to be reformed to address the backlog of AON applications and free up therapists to perform their core duties instead of “writing endless reports”.
Currently, applications are sent to an assessment officer in the HSE to decide if a child is eligible for an AON under the terms of the Disability Act 2005. Assessments are then carried out by a team or a single healthcare professional to decide if the child has a disability or not. Should a child be deemed to have a disability, the family is given a service statement listing the services and support the HSE would provide.
However, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality states that therapists spend up to one-third of their time producing clinical assessments under this process. This restricts their capacity to perform their core functions.
Under the General Scheme for the Disability (Amendment) Bill 2025, published in February 2026, assessment officers are to be supported by 11 new teams, each comprising four expert staff to provide clinical guidance during the process. The four members are to be a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist, and an administrator.
Guidelines will be provided to assessment officers to outline that the AON process should focus on establishing the child’s needs and not on a diagnosis of disability.
The requirement for professional reports, such as AON reports, for entry into special schools and classes is set to be removed. A new process is set to be agreed in its place.
HSE figures show that 20,290 children were overdue an AON with 16,960 waiting over three months. This includes 1,006 applications where an extended timeframe was agreed with the parent due to exceptional circumstances.
A total of 13,186 applications were received in 2025, a 23 per cent increase from 2024 when there were 10,690. There were 5,949 AONs completed in 2025, a 43 per cent increase from 2024 when there were 4,162 completed.
The Disability Act 2005, which introduced AONs, stipulates that they must be completed within six months of the application being received. In 2025, 9.4 per cent of assessment were completed within this timeframe.
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley TD says: “I know that families have been enduring incredible stress and unacceptable delays in receiving AON reports and some existing AONs are taking up to 30 hours to complete, which is far too long. We are introducing a faster and more efficient way of carrying out AON reports.”
The Labour Party’s spokesperson for children, Mark Wall TD, says: “This government has rushed out a press release today promising more ‘targeted reforms’ on assessment of needs. Without the structures in place, this will not be worth the paper it is written on.
“The crux of the issue is even if a child does get an assessment of need, we simply do not have the staffing required to provide the vital therapies that these children need.”
