Over 3,500 children waiting for needs assessments

An 'assessment of need' allows a child to be diagnosed with a disability, such as autism, and then apply for the care they need.

Over 3,500 needs assessments for children with disabilities are overdue completion.

Of these, 83% are at least three months late.

An 'assessment of need' allows a child to be diagnosed with a disability, such as autism, and then apply for the care they need.

The HSE is legally obliged to have these assessments finished within six months.

But according to the HSE's latest figures, that target isn't being met in many cases as 3,503 assessments are overdue.

They include 1,016 in north Dublin, along with 814 in Cork, 127 in Meath and 89 are in Waterford.

Lorraine Dempsey, the interim chief executive of Inclusion Ireland, says the assessments are vital.

"If a parent wanted their child enrolled in an autism-specific class because they are exhibiting all of those signs and there is a question mark over it, without the actual clinical diagnosis on paper by a psychologist the parents can't even apply for a place," said Ms Dempsey.

"So there are certain barriers that children will face if they do not get a specific diagnosis."

Ms Dempsey said in order to deal with the backlog the HSE need to embark on a radical recruitment drive for permanent posts including speech and language therapists and social workers.

She said there is a "clearly identified" deficit in HSE-funded services.