I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this important issue. The Government and the HSE are fully committed to enhancing services to better support children with disabilities in Ireland. The Progressing Disability Services Roadmap 2023-2026 focuses on the ongoing development of CDNTs to meet current and growing demand. A child does not require a diagnosis to access services. CDNTs provide a multidisciplinary assessment of individual needs and strengths as well as therapy supports. The demand for assessments of need has increased significantly in recent years, a reflection of both the increase of population and of families exploring all options for accessing services for their children. The HSE advises that 10,690 applications for assessments of need were received in 2024, with approximately 4,160 completed, which is a 30% increase on the 3,205 applications completed in 2023. Demand for assessments of need has more than doubled compared with the 4,700 applications received in 2020. In CHO 9, 1,690 assessment of need applications were received in 2024, which marks a 14% increase from 2022 when 1,467 assessment of need applications were received. As of December 2024, 3,193 assessments of need applications in CHO 9 were overdue for completion. The HSE has also advised that in CHO 9, 2,086 children were offered an initial contact, individual or group intervention with a CDNT in December 2024, while 2,596 were waiting for an initial contact at the end of the month. While recruitment and retention of staff are a challenge across the sector overall, a significant focus of the Government is filling vacant posts within the 93 CDNTs which are providing supports for more than 42,000 children. The Government has provided funding for additional posts to enhance the capacity of CDNTs in recent years. The HSE has advised that there was a net addition of 272 staff in CDNTs in 2024, a 17% increase compared with 2023. Ongoing recruitment and retention measures include: the HSE facilitating direct access for funded agencies to existing HSE health and social care professionals panels, which will shorten the recruitment process and provide direct access to competent and eligible candidates; the Department of children and equality working with the HSE to seek to introduce specific recruitment and retention incentives for therapists who work in CDNTs and a CDNT sponsorship programme with bursaries for fourth year and postgraduate students linked to acceptance of conditional job offers; placements on CDNTs continuing to be expanded alongside a continued expansion in the number of places in higher education; and the roll-out of regional assessment hubs, including in CHO 9, which will see the provision of personnel dedicated to the delivery of assessments of need, while preserving the time for other clinical staff for purposes of therapy interventions. In May 2024, the Government announced a decision to finance the assessment of need waiting list initiative through the procurement of private assessments for long-waiting families. Between June and December 2024, some 2,479 assessments of need were commissioned from private providers at a total cost of approximately €8.2 million. The Government has provided funding for additional posts to enhance the capacity of CDNTs and shorten waiting times in recent years, with a further investment in budget 2025 to fund additional therapy posts and clinical trainee places.

Sentiment score: 0.27

The overall HSE disability budget for 2025 has increased to €3.2 billion. That equates to an 11.6% increase over the previous year. This matter remains an extremely high priority for the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, for the Government and for senior leadership within the HSE. The HSE is supporting families of children while they are on waiting lists. These initiatives include access to webinars, workshops and advice clinics among other measures. This will ensure families continue to receive engagement from teams as they await further supports. It is important to reiterate that a child does not require a statutory assessment of need to access disability services. It is also important to acknowledge that the CDNTs are providing services and supports to more than 42,000 children via 92 dedicated teams across the country. These teams are providing strategies and supports for urgent cases on the waiting lists where staffing resources allow. This Government provided funding for additional posts to enhance the capacity of CDNTs and shorten waiting times in recent years. In 2025, €25 million has been made available for children's services building on existing recruitment initiatives with funding focused on various positions across the CDNTs, including 20 senior therapist posts, 20 staff grade posts, 20 health and social care assistant posts and 15 clinical trainee posts. Detailed engagement continues between the Minister of State's officials and the HSE to seek practical and implementable solutions to address the issues of waiting lists for both assessments of need and interventions. I assure the Deputy that the matter is receiving the most urgent attention.

Sentiment score: 0.41

On behalf of the Minister, I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter and giving me the opportunity to provide clarity on a number of issues. The Coroner Service comprises a network of coroners in districts throughout the country and a coroner is an independent office holder. The Department of Justice has direct responsibility for providing financial and administrative support to the Dublin District Coroner's Office since January 2018. Outside Dublin, the relevant local authorities fund the costs of all other coronial districts. The Minister recognises the significance and sensitivity of the coronial investigation process for loved ones of the bereaved. Neither the Minister nor the Department can interfere with a coroner in the exercise of his or her statutory death investigation function. A decision to direct a post-mortem examination or to hold an inquest must rest entirely with the individual coroner. The Minister is aware of the increasing challenges in securing histopathologists for a number of reasons to carry out coroner-directed post mortem examinations. The Department established a standing committee on coroner-directed post mortem examinations in 2022, which is tasked with considering the core issues involved in the provision of a sustainable pathology service to coroners. Following a consultation process on the reform of the Coroner Service, the Department has received approval from Government to draft the general scheme of a Bill to significantly reform the Coroner Service in order to increase efficiencies and minimise the impact of the death investigation process on bereaved people. The heads of Bill, which will be brought to Government this year, aim to address all aspects of the Coroner Service, including establishment of an independent office of the chief coroner, who will be responsible for setting standards, providing guidance and overseeing the activities of full-time salaried coroners, a model in line with best practice internationally. In recognition of the time required to prepare and progress a replacement to the Coroners Act 1962, as amended, through the Houses, the Coroners (Amendment) Act 2024 was signed into law in February last year. This Act made provision for the assignment and appointment of temporary coroners where workload demands warrant such assignment. This ensures that there will be adequate coronial provision in all districts pending the reform of the service. As mentioned, the Department of Justice has direct responsibility for the Dublin coroner's district and the Minister has utilised powers conferred on him in the Act to ensure that an appropriate number of coroners are in place to address waiting times for bereaved families.

Sentiment score: 0.25

I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter The Department of Justice is committed to driving the modernisation of the coroner service in Ireland. There are many positive aspects to the current service. Foremost is the compassion of coroners and their staff when engaging with bereaved family members. A number of areas would benefit from being modernised. For this reform process to be effective, it needs to take into account the views of coroners and people who interact with the coroner service. The Department of Justice is working on the modernisation project in respect of the Dublin district coroner's office, for which it has operational responsibility. It is intended that the lessons learned in the Dublin district will be used in the development of a national model once the supporting legislation has been enacted. A new coroners Act will also review the criteria that dictate whether a death investigation is required, with a view to conducting a low number of death investigations, where possible, to minimise the impact on bereaved families. Ireland undertakes more coronial death investigations than comparable jurisdictions and it is a process that can be highly distressing, as the Deputy said, for families of the bereaved. The needs of those bereaved families will be at the centre of the Department's reforms. A restructured and modernised coroner service will drive consistency and assist coroners in the delivery of this important service. We will revert to the Deputy on the timing of the Bill, which I mentioned in my first contribution. We will also revert with the details of the additional support provided to the Dublin coroner service.

Sentiment score: 0.17