Talks to begin on review of Assessment of Need process for children

Anne Rabbitte, Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, welcomed the appointment. Picture: Sasko Lazarov

The Government has appointed a chair of a new group charged with reviewing elements of the Assessment of Need process for children, which has been the subject of fierce criticism from child rights advocates and health professionals. 

Robbie Ryan has been appointed to chair the review of the standard operating procedure for Assessment of Need for children, which will comprise five nominees from the trade union Fórsa and five from the HSE. 

Meetings will begin this month and the process is set to last a year.

The HSE is statutorily obliged to begin within three months of the application lodged by parents, and to be completed within another three months, including the furnishing of all relevant reports regarding what resources would then be required for the child.

Last year, the HSE introduced a new standard operating procedure which it said would help cut huge backlogs in the number of overdue applications. 

However, professionals working in the area, most recently the Psychological Society of Ireland, have warned that it is not fit for purpose. 

The new group will provide two interim reports and will look at particular the issues arising with regards to the preliminary team assessment, as well as review existing staff resources, both clinical and administrative, and infrastructural resource requirements for the delivery of Assessment of Need.

It will also evaluate the impact of the standard operating procedure for Assessment of Need. 

Mr Ryan's appointment was welcomed by Minister of State for Disabilities, Anne Rabbitte, who last December had flagged a need to look at Assessment of Need in light of the spiralling number of overdue cases.   

"What we know is that the system in place prior to January 2020 needed fundamental change," she said. 

"It’s become clear to me that there are varying views on how it works, and this provides an excellent opportunity to assess how this new format of assessment is working on the ground, for children, families and for clinicians.

Member of the Oireachtas committee on children and youth affairs, Seán Sherlock, said: “We need to see real results for families quickly to ensure we are mitigating any potential issues in later years for these children."