The Darmody family in Ardfinnan are being lauded for their campaign work in respect of improving services for those with disabilities especially autism. The family secured funding for a private assessment of their sons and the Labour party today put forward a Dáil motion calling for such funding to be made available for all families facing delays for assessments.
Today Minister Anne Rabbitte informed the Dáil that 6 Regional Assessment Teams are to be established to tackle the Backlog in Assessment of Need applications. The Minister also committed that if the teams are not in place by August 1st this year she will bring the Labour party proposal for the reimbursement of costs relating to Private Assessments of Need to the next Budget in October. The Labour party describes the Minister’s commitment as “a big win” for the Darmody Campaign.
As of March 2023, 10,696 children have been waiting for over 12 months for initial contact with a Children’s Disability Network Team (CDNT), an increase of 836 since December, and 17,157 were waiting in total.
