Wicklow Sinn Fein local election candidate for the Arklow Area Warren O Toole has expressed his anger towards the government, blaming their recruitment embargo for the backlog in services for children with special needs.
There are currently over 15,000 children across the state overdue for completion of Assessment of Needs (AON) which must be concluded before children are permitted to access additional services.
It is anticipated that there will be an additional 8,000 children who will become overdue for completion by the end of 2024.
O’Toole said:
An Assessment of Needs is the first and vital step in determining if a child has a disability.
Early intervention is crucial and it is essential that a child’s needs are identified along with the services that will be required to ensure every child can meet their full potential.
Thousands of children across the country have been left waiting sometimes for several years for an assessment and a diagnosis that would allow them to receive not only the care they need but the care they are legally entitled to.
Across County Wicklow there are a staggering 1,519 children waiting for an Assessment of Needs, some 1,239 of whom have been waiting over three months.
The 2005 Disability Act provides that an AON must be carried out within three months of an application. The emphasis on completion of AON is a recognition of the critical nature of time in the whole process.”
O’ Toole went on to say:
“My son Alex who is 21 years old has Down Syndrome and autism. It’s ridiculous, heartbreaking and simply disgraceful that some of the challenges we faced when Alex was young are still going on today but shamefully in some instances worse.
There’s an epidemic that not many people are openly discussing and that’s autism and other forms of neurodiversity.
I have personally witnessed the harmful consequences and heartache that the delays in services can cause to the individual and the families of children with special needs.
Regression of the individual often leads to depression which brings with it more complex behaviours that can be avoided with proper services. This in turn puts even more pressure on the strained health services.
The unnecessary pressure on parents and carers has such an impact on their lives. It’s unfair that families are being put under such pressures.
Decisions are being made by people who either don’t care or don’t have experience with this complex situation and it’s completely failing some of the most vulnerable in society.
I have seen how consecutive governments over the years have taken from different disability services.
While I welcome the recent announcement by Minister in relation to additional funding to address the backlog in AON waiting lists, which is anticipated to rise by another 8,000 this year, we need to see a commitment by government to put in place the permanent architecture that will ensure that children receive an AON and are provided with access to the care and therapy that they need.
What we are witnessing at the moment is a one-off payment to address a headline issue prior to the election in less than two weeks. This is not a solution; it is a stopgap solution to a problem that is not going to go away. The HSE embargo needs to end now. We need to see permanent staff in position to address this crisis on an ongoing basis.”