Earlier today, I received information that the State has spent over €7.2 million of taxpayers' money to defend the State against the families of children with disabilities who have not received an assessment of need under the statutory timeframe. In 2022, the High Court ruled that the Government broke the law by providing 90-minute assessments instead of comprehensive assessments of need. Since then, there have been 932 legal cases taken by parents of children who did not receive assessments of need under the 2005 Disability Act. The State has paid solicitors and counsel over €7.2 million to defend it against these families and to defend the indefensible. This is €7.2 million that could have been spent on providing assessments of need or decreasing the time the 18,000 children currently waiting on assessments of need will have to wait. I know the Minister of State has only been in the role for a couple of weeks and I genuinely wish her well. Nobody on this side of the House wants to see her fail because it is an issue that affects everybody. However, she has to admit that the situation is stark. In our area, Dublin Mid-West, there are 1,618 children waiting for assessments of need. How many of those children received an assessment of need under the statutory timeframe laid out under the Disability Act? Not one child in Dublin Mid-West has received an assessment of need on time. This is truly scandalous. Not only is the Government breaking the law; it is not allowing children every chance to reach their developmental milestones. I do not think it is too much to ask the Government to stop fighting children with disabilities and breaking the law and to allow children every chance to reach their full potential.

Sentiment score: 0.01