Assessment of Need: It got to the point of ‘I am going to have to go to court’

As a result of the ruling, the HSE is making contact with the families of approximately 10,000 children, whose Preliminary Treatment Assessment has, over the past two years, involved the SOP, to ask them if they want a fresh assessment for their child.

For Mary (not her real name), it wasn't quite a typical month. Earlier in March, she was part of a successful High Court challenge which upended the HSE's much-maligned method of screening Assessment of Need cases for children. 

But in other ways, March has been as expected: she is still waiting to hear what services are going to be provided for her son.