14,000 children waiting to access disability services as Norma Foley admits ‘we need a better model’
Children’s Minister Norma Foley has vowed to reform the “assessment-of-need” system that has left children waiting years for treatment.
More than 14,000 children are stuck in limbo waiting to access disability services. New figures, meanwhile, also revealed that autism diagnoses have trebled in less than a decade.
Ms Foley acknowledged the system is antiquated and leaving families frustrated.
“There is no point in therapists spending one-third of their time on assessments when they could be treating children instead during that time,” she said. “We are going to change the system.”
The leaders of both main parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, promised to make disability issues a priority during their election campaigns last year.
Published in The Irish Independent, 12th March 2025