Process to assess needs of children with disabilities does not comply with law

A High Court judgment stated that the HSE is falling foul of the law in how it conducts its assessment of need process regarding children who may have a disability.

A High Court judgment stating the HSE is falling foul of the law in how it conducts its assessment of need process regarding children who may have a disability has sparked fresh calls for an overhaul of the system.

The judicial review delivered by Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan quashed the assessments of two young children and said there was a "patent failure to properly construe the breadth of the assessment obligation", even if the HSE was in an "invidious position" whereby it had "a legal obligation to assess needs without necessarily having the means to address them”.