Reducing assessment of need waiting lists 'will not happen overnight', warns minister

Cabinet today sanctioned the formation of 11 new expert teams, and a new HSE autism pathway is due to enter operation in February.

Children's minister Norma Foley said the current assessment of need system is 'broken'. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

The Government has declined to set out when it will meet its statutory target to provide an assessment of need (AON) to children within six months of application.

Children’s minister Norma Foley said the Government intends to reach the goal of carrying out AONs within six months “as quickly as we possibly can”, but did not say if there was a timeline for when this would happen.

Ms Foley was speaking as she announced a raft of new measures to seek to improve the existing AON process, including new legislation to speed up how many hours the assessments themselves take.

On addressing the backlog, which is projected to have 22,000 children waiting for an AON by the end of 2025, Ms Foley said it will ”take time to progress”.

“This will not happen overnight by magic, but it is showing we are absolutely determined to find a better process,” Ms Foley said.

Questioned if it would be a period of years before the backlog is addressed, Ms Foley said she did not know.

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However, she said there has been a 44% increase in applications for AONs compared to 2024.

“There are more and more applications coming on stream every single year, because I feel parents don’t have other options,” she said.

Ms Foley said there would be alternative options to AONs, including a new autism pathway set to be operated by the HSE and due to enter operation in February.

“It will absolutely take time, there’s no point in saying otherwise, but it will be a better system than the broken system that we have currently.” 

New measures

Ms Foley was speaking as she confirmed the Government would be making a number of changes to seek to speed up the AON process, confirming new laws would be introduced as a “priority”.

Measures approved by Cabinet today include sanctions for 11 new expert teams, due to be staffed by a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist, and an administrator.

A total of 44 staff on these 11 expert teams will be hired in 2024, with a further nine teams to be set up in 2027.

Ms Foley said these teams would speed up the process, with people carrying out AONs having expert advice available earlier in the process.

Statutory guidelines will also be introduced to ensure therapists are “freed up to provide therapy rather than writing endless reports”, Ms Foley said.

“We need therapists to be therapists, and this reform is designed to achieve that,” Ms Foley said.

Ms Foley repeatedly said the proposals would not remove the statutory right of an individual to an assessment of need, nor would they change the six-month timeframe for an AON to be carried out.

She said there is funding available for AONs to be carried out privately in 2026, but there is a need to fix the overall AON system.