Children facing 'wall of indefinite waiting' for therapies, warns Inclusion Ireland

Talks are happening with the Department of Education to end school principals requiring an AON for pupils. File Picture.

A “frightening” number of children continue to wait as the number of assessment of need (AON) applications grows beyond system capacity, despite more being done for children with disabilities than previously, new data shows.

Inclusion Ireland warned that even when children get past this “institutional bottleneck”, they hit “a new wall of indefinite waiting” for therapies.

HSE data shows 1,616 AONs done between July and September, a 54% increase on the same months last year.

The Disability Act gives a legal right to assessment under timelines. However, rising numbers saw 18,097 applications overdue by September. This includes 891 with a negotiated extension.

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The overall number is “an increase of 9%” from June this year.

This year, by September, there was a 22% increase in applications compared to the same time last year, at 9,570 compared to 7,852.

The HSE said this reflects the increased population and “families exploring all options" for services. 

HSE general manager for disability services, access and integration, Tom McGuirk, expects as many as 13,000 applications by year’s end.

This compares with 2,535 applications in 2008, “representing a five-fold increase”.

'Endless cycle of waiting'

Inclusion Ireland acknowledged AON delays, but said the most pressing issue for its families is the "subsequent failure" to deliver services. 

“The AON, therefore, becomes an institutional bottleneck,” it said. “A statutory requirement that is frequently met, only for the child to immediately hit a new, indefinite wall of waiting for the essential therapies that were identified.” 

Inclusion Ireland head of communications Caoimhe Suipéil called for reforms.

The AON should be a seamless part of services, and this would help eliminate "an endless cycle of waiting”, she said. Better access to information and home supports, as well as aggressively stepping up recruitment, are needed also, she added.

The data was released to Sinn Féin spokesman for disability, Ruairí Ó Murchú.

He described the waiting lists as “frightening” and called for a conversation on assessment and treatment.

“We can see for all the initiatives being taken, the question is still how this problem is to be solved,” he said. He added: “We already know there is an insufficient number of therapists.”

He raised questions with disability minister Norma Foley in the Dáil last week about a proposed change to AON legislation. She indicated that details will be presented by the end of the year.

The HSE also said that since June last year, 6,378 AONs were done privately with €6.89m of dedicated funding. 

Separate budget funding of €4.5m and €5m in non-core funding is also being used. More was included in this year’s budget.

Mr McGuirk said: “The number of applications in some areas have historically been significantly lower than in other areas.” 

This is due to some services offering faster paths to help without an AON.

Talks are happening with the Department of Education to end school principals requiring an AON for pupils. The HSE is hiring more assessment officers and liaison officers, as well as reviewing the system overall.