15,000 children waiting up to two years for speech and language assessments

More than 15,000 children with serious speech and language difficulties must wait up to two years to access basic initial assessments, while cutbacks mean hundreds more are not even making it onto the lists.

The situation, which one TD has called a “national disgrace”, was revealed in HSE figures, and follows previous concerns over how large parts of the country have no early intervention teams to help children with developmental delays.

Information supplied to Fianna Fáil spokesman for disability, mental health, and special needs, Colm Keaveney, via a parliamentary response, shows that 15,776 children were forced to wait significant lengths of time to access initial assessment checks at the start of this year.