- From: Department of Children, Disability and Equality
- Published on: 9 December 2025
- Last updated on: 9 December 2025
The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, and Minister of State for Disability Emer Higgins today announced targeted reforms to improve the Assessment of Need process for children and their families.
The reform will lead to a faster and more efficient way of carrying out Assessment of Needs (AON) reports, instead of tying up therapists’ time unnecessarily.
Assessment officers will be supported by eleven new teams, comprising 44 expert staff who will provide clinical guidance and support during the AON process. Each team will include a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and an administrator.
There will be guidelines for assessment officers to make clear that the AON process should be focused on establishing the needs for a child, rather than lengthy and complex reports on a diagnosis of disability.
This will replace the current AON process, where therapists are spending up to one third of their time producing clinical assessments as part of the AON process.
Importantly, these changes will not remove any rights for parents to apply for an Assessment of Need for their child, nor will they alter the statutory six‑month timeline set out in the Disability Act. While acknowledging that there is a backlog of AON applications projected to be over 22,000 at the end of this year, many of the children waiting on AON reports are already receiving supports.
In the first 3 quarters of 2025, 4,534 AON assessments have been conducted. It is estimated that 6,000 assessments will be completed by year end which would be a 44% increase compared to 2024, and an 87% increase on 2023.
It will remain the case that an AON is not required to access health services.
The Department of Education and Youth will shortly agree a new process to remove the requirement for professional reports, such as Assessment of Need reports, from entry requirements for special schools and special classes,
A range of operational improvements are being introduced alongside the changes to the AON process, which was first introduced in the 2005 Disability Act.
Starting next year, the HSE will introduce a Single Point of Access system, which will make it easier for families to be referred to the right service – whether that is a Children’s Disability Network Team, Primary Care, or the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. Families who need services can continue to contact the health services directly or can be referred by GPs, paediatricians, public health nurses amongst others in the first instance if they wish.
Furthermore, the Autism Assessment and Intervention Protocol, launching in February 2026, will provide parents with a faster route of getting an autism diagnosis for their child than the AON route.
Speaking today, Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley said:
“I know that families have been enduring incredible stress and unacceptable delays in receiving AON reports and some existing AONs are taking up to 30 hours to complete, which is far too long. We are introducing a faster and more efficient way of carrying out AON reports. The HSE are going to set up 11 expert teams, with 4 staff on each including a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and an administrator.
This will help to speed up the process because assessment officers will have the expert help that they need at an earlier stage. We want the AON process to be faster, so that therapists are freed up to provide therapy rather than writing endless reports.
I am conscious that more than legislation is required and so the HSE’s new single point of access system, the new autism assessment process and the new process in education for admission to special classes and special schools will give families a faster way of getting the services they need for their children, rather than relying on the AON process.”
Minister of State with Responsibility for Disability, Emer Higgins said:
“Since stepping into my new role as the Minister with responsibility for Disability, I have already had the opportunity to meet many families and stakeholders who have shared how challenging the Assessment of Need process can be. These reforms are designed with children and families at the heart of them. Our aim is to build a system that works better for everyone, especially children with disabilities, so they can access the support they need at the right time. While these changes will take time to take full effect, families will begin to see improvements in the system and faster delivery of AONs for those who need them.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Key information about legislative changes under the Disability Act
- Under the Disability Act, an Assessment of Need is an assessment carried out by the HSE for people with a disability. The assessment identifies health and education needs and what services are needed to meet those needs.
- Children do not need an Assessment of Need report to get access to services. In fact, in some cases, children may already be receiving supports or services, whilst awaiting their statutory assessment of need.
- There is an urgent need to reform the Assessment of Need system to make it more effective and efficient for children and families and move towards more assessments being delivered within the statutory 6-month timeframe.
- These changes now being made to Part 2 of the Disability Act will make clear that the AON process should focus on the identification of needs in a timelier way and that clinical assessments should only be used when necessary to establish the needs of the child.
- We are also putting in place statutory guidelines to ensure the Assessment of Need process is delivered efficiently, effectively and consistently across the country.
- This will make the process faster; it will ensure children do not receive unnecessary assessments or tests; and it will help children to receive a timelier report that identifies their needs and the services required to meet those needs.
- The changes will not affect the right to apply for an Assessment of Need or the overall timeframe for the assessment process that is set out in the Act.
Operational improvements in the HSE
- The introduction of an additional management grade overseeing Assessments of need to ensure Assessment Officers are fully supported including clinical advice and reports where required.
- The introduction of 11 new “In-reach” teams consisting of 4 staff per team who will provide clinically expert guidance to staff undertaking assessments (including Assessment Officers). With further expansion of this support planned for the coming years
- Improving supports and training for assessment officers and liaison officers to ensure they have appropriate skills to provide for statutory assessments.
- The continuation of the targeted waitlist initiative into 2026. Through this initiative, €20m is being provided for the delivery of up to 6,000 clinical assessments by private providers for families waiting longest
- The Department of Education and Youth will remove the requirement for the need for a diagnosis to enrol in a special class or special school for applications due by October 2026 for September 2027 school year.
- The rollout in February 2026 of the Autism Assessment and Intervention Protocol will provide for a consistent approach to autism assessments across Primary Care, CAMHs and Children’s Disability Network Teams.
