New records have shown there has been a major increase in the number of children waiting for an Assessment of Need in the past three months
Adding to an already existing issue here in Ireland, there are now an additional 1,600 children who are overdue their Assessment as figures hit 12,722, according to figures seen by Newstalk.
That shows a jump at the end of September to 12,722, from 11,131 at the end of June and 8,900 from the end of 2023.
It is also understood that 81% of those children have been overdue their appointment for nine months or more.
The vital service is used in order to examine what services a child needs, like occupational therapy or speech and language therapy.
Under the Disability Act, there is a requirement for the state to provide an Assessment of Need within six months – but with waitlists, this isn’t happening on time for many.
It is understood that among the 1,047 assessments that were carried out in Q3 of this year, only 10% were within the correct timeframe.
Around two-thirds of those appointments found that the person required occupational therapy, while over half needed speech and language therapy.
For more information on an Additional Needs Assessment click here.
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