The Government is “not coming close” to fulfilling its legal obligations to protect the right of children to access therapeutic interventions, particularly in the areas of assessment and diagnosis.
This is the view of Sinn Féin Galway East representative, Louis O’Hara, who was speaking following the publication of a report by Inclusion Ireland, highlighting the lack of therapeutic interventions in children’s disability services in the State.
The report highlights the frustration felt by families in respect to the right to an assessment under the Disability Act, and the introduction of short screening assessments by the HSE.
'No legal obligation'
“Parents expressed anger at these short screenings as they do not provide a diagnosis, which is a requirement to get a child into a special school or class,” said Mr O’Hara. “Once a child has completed this short assessment, they move to another waiting list for further assessment from which, unlike previously, there is no legal obligation on the HSE to complete within a specific timeframe.”
The Inclusion Ireland report stated that, “having waited for an assessment of need [children] should not have to be waitlisted a second time”. AsIAm and Down Syndrome Ireland have both published similar findings, highlighting confusion and frustration surrounding the new assessment of need process, and the lack of access to follow-on therapeutic interventions.”
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“This is a cynical act by the Government to avoid their legal responsibility to ensure children receive appropriate, comprehensive, clinically ethical, and timely assessments of need,” said Mr O’Hara [pictured above].
The report also stated that “the source of most distress” is the wait for assessment followed by the long wait for intervention, with 50 per cent of those surveyed saying they are “not in receipt of any service”, and 85 per cent reporting their children “have waited or continue to wait for more than a year”.
Mr O’Hara said families need “more than rhetoric; they need to see real delivery”. Sinn Féin spokesperson on Disability and Carers, Pauline Tully TD, will be seeking a meeting with the relevant Ministers to discuss action that can be taken to bring changes to the current system.
