The Government will be fought every step of the way should it move to change the laws around assessments of need for autism and disability services, Sinn Féin has said.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told the Dáil he believes legislative change is needed to enable therapists to provide service to children more quickly.
Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the assessment of need to be completed within six months.
Mr Martin said that the time frame for an assessment of need could be between 27 and 90 hours and, according to the HSE, it is estimated that up to 30% of assessments result in the child being identified as not having a disability.
The priority must be how to effectively allocate resources in a targeted way in order to provide services to those in need as quickly as possible, he said.
There are choices we can take to enable therapists to get to children more quickly and to be used more optimally than currently is the case for children.
"That is the case I am making as to why I think we need legislative change along with a range of other measures also," Mr Martin said.
However, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that removing or watering down the right to assessment within six months would have serious and enduring consequences for vulnerable children.
The move would serve only to benefit a State that is failing in its duties, Ms McDonald said. "It will reward State failure."
The number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296 — an 8% rise on the end of 2024. The HSE anticipates that, by the end of the year, there could be as many as 24,796 assessments due for completion.
Under questioning in the Dáil, Mr Martin said he has committed to making a comprehensive a step change, across all areas of Government, in provision for people in relation special needs or with disabilities, and with a particular focus on young people.
Children's minister Norma Foley acknowledged that the system is "a broken one" and is in need of an overhaul, stating that as it currently stands it is too complex, too layered, and that assessments were unnecessarily required for too many services.
Ms Foley said that many children who go through the process do not need to. She said that she is working to ensure that assessments are not needed to access social some protection payments or housing.
The Dáil also heard that there will now be no requirement to have an assessment report when a person is applying for the domiciliary care allowance.
Debates around assessments were held as Tipperary youngster Cara Darmody continued a 50-hour protest at the gates of Leinster House.
The 14-year-old was praised across the House for her campaigning but Labour TD Alan Kelly said that a teenage girl having to sleep outside out of desperation to see the issue dealt with "is the lowest thing I have seen".
"It will be a stain on all of us if there is not something done," Mr Kelly said.
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Cara Darmody begins 50-hour protest to highlight disability assessment delays
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