Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 20 May 2025

let's dive into the discussions shaping the nation. Can I extend to the students, the pupils of Claes de Oan from Buncrana, from the women from the briefie walking group in Castle Bar. Hello, you're all very welcome. At 10 o'clock this morning, Cara Darmody, a 14-year-old disability campaigner, began a 50-hour protest outside the Dáil, and Cara Darmody joins us in the gallery as well. A very warm welcome to you and to your father, Mark. Cara is an exceptional and amazing young woman who has stepped forward to fight not just for her brothers Neil and John, but for all of the children so badly failed by Fianna Fall and Fine Gael governments. At the heart of Cara's protest is one simple demand that the government comply with the law and ensure that no child is left behind. Children with disabilities are legally entitled to an assessment of needs within six months, and yet 15,296 children are left well beyond this time frame, some for years, delaying their access to vital therapies and appropriate school places. And the HSE anticipates that this dire situation will get worse. By the end of 2025, there could be almost 25,000 on waiting lists for assessment of needs. And I have been contacted by so many, many parents over the last week, and they all have the same story. One mother got a letter on Friday to acknowledge her application for assessment of needs and was informed that the waiting list is in excess of three years. Another told me her son is on the list for an appointment which has been cancelled over and over again. Another, whose daughter got a letter saying that it will be between 24 and 33 months before she will be seen, and this child is already on the list for over a year. I work with parents every day in my own constituency. In the north inner city, the waiting list would make your eyes water, and it's even worse in Cabra. And even then, when you get your assessment of needs, the fight continues, the fight for therapies, for school place, for very, very basic services. Taoiseach, you have broken the law over and again. There is a legal requirement on you to provide an assessment of needs within six months, and you have broken that over and over again. Children are being failed dramatically, left in limbo, while they wait for the supports to which they are entitled. How is it that children are so badly failed? Why is it that people with disabilities are so badly failed? And there is no indication from your government that you are serious at all about complying with the law. So today, the combined opposition come together and demand that government comply with the law. Our motion tonight lays out the clear, concrete steps needed if you are serious about tackling assessment of needs waiting lists and complying with your legal and your moral obligations. So, Taoiseach, can you tell parents clearly? What is the target data? By which you will comply with the law? Can you set out the emergency action you will take? And the resources you will make available to Cara's fund to clear the current backlog? And what about workforce planning, Taoiseach? Because in some parts of the State, 60% of positions within the CDNTs are currently vacant. First of all, could I say at the outset that I appreciate the work that Cara Darmody has been doing and her campaigning work with her father Mark. And she has been campaigning for quite some time and she began initially in terms of advocacy for her family. And now nationally in respect of disability rights more general. And could I say at the outset that when I was appointed Taoiseach earlier in the year, I committed that this would be a government that would step change comprehensively across all areas of government, provision for people with special needs or with disabilities. And particularly to focus on young people. Disability is represented at the cabinet table by a full minister. And I have established, in the process of establishing the first ever disability unit within the Department of Antisiach, to troubleshoot and to coordinate across all government departments, the provision of services for people with disabilities. And that, and if you go through all of the various areas, first of all, the need is increasing all of the time. The 2022 census is indicative of that in terms of the increase in the numbers of people identifying with a special need. And fundamentally in education there has been an exponential increase in investment. A huge increase in resources in terms of special needs assistance at about 23,400 now. We have 20,800 special education teachers. And that's, SNAs alone is about a billion a year. And that's the way it should be. Special class enrolment has doubled in five years. With nearly 19,000 students supported in 3,335 classes. And over 2,700 new placements are planned for 25,26. A new national therapy service in education, beginning in specialist schools, has been agreed by Cabinet, has been decided upon, and work is on the way in terms of getting that in place, partially in this school year, sorry, in the next school year, 25, 26, and fully thereafter. And in terms of more general, then in terms of the NCSE, again, 39 new posts were approved in terms of therapists for the National Council for Special Education, and that recruitment is well underway and has been quite successful and effective. In terms of income supports, the Minister for Social Protection is working in terms of specific budget provisions for children in particular, and people more generally with disabilities. On transport, we have specifically asked the Minister for Transport to work on the mobility issues, the Disabled Tax Scheme, working with the Department of Finance to put that back on a proper footing, and a better footing than would have been the case beforehand. In relation to the assessment of need, quite fundamentally, we need to change the legislation. The High Court Act, or High Court decision, necessitates, in my view, a change in legislation to ensure that therapists are directed and streamlined to provide services to children more quickly than currently is the case. We have a finite number of therapists currently in the country. The real objective has to be to use those therapists optimally in providing services to children. And I say that very clearly because I'm looking for solutions here. And I think that is one nettle we have to grasp. And it will be challenging. But it's one that we have at the Cabinet, we serve a Cabinet Subcommittee on Disability, as you know. And it has asked the Minister for Children, the Department of Children to come back with legislative proposals in respect of the assessment of need area. Recruit and retain therapists, very important. Mutual recognition of qualifications across Europe and with the United Kingdom to enable us to bring more therapists in from overseas, in addition to those that we will be producing through our colleges and more therapists. So it's one of the best questions for us, that we will be working on a hearing. It's all connected. And that's a great question to you about it. And thank you all. So what the High Court found is that the State is breaking the law. And what the High Court demanded is that the State be in compliance with the law. that's what the ruling means it does not mean change the law so what your message to us today Taoiseach is that rather than working to be in compliance with the law to ensure that children get the assessment of needs to which they are legally entitlement within the statutory framework of six months rather than working for compliance your idea is to change the law and to remove that provision I think there would be a common view certainly across those that work within the disabilities and families that actually the problem isn't the law actually it's very good law it's a very good idea that a rigorous and thorough assessment of needs is given to every child and person who needs it within a six months time frame the issue here is government inaction the issue here is government failure so Taoiseach I want to put it to you again rather than suggesting that you simply change the law comply with the law and tell us how you are going to make it possible that those 15,000 children who wait and wait and wait will get their assessment of needs and consequently the service support to which they are entitled deputy you have offered no solution you've offered rhetoric and that's all no the bottom line is this we will do everything we simply can to deal with the existing waiting lists and so forth and there's been significant increase in terms of the numbers of assessments that have actually taken place a 30% increase on 2023 but that in itself will not deal with the current situation and so you have to have a multifaceted multifaceted response we need more therapists in third-level colleges we will be providing more private funding to procure assessments but all that will not in my view redo I redirect the work of therapists most appropriately which is to provide services to children and and I'll just make the point they make I'm making the point under the current system the status quo is simply not tenable deputy you must know that deep down so there has to be a change in respect of that and there also has to be in my view every single avenue that we can to increase the number of therapists to recruit more because the money is there in many instances HCC have not been able to recruit 100% to their CD&T team like share and subscribe and let us know your thoughts in the comments we'd love to hear from you