The government\u2019s proposed changes to the Assessment of Need (AON) process \u2014 currently going through pre-legislative scrutiny in the Oireachtas \u2014 is essentially cover for years of service development failure, according to Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide.<\/p>\n
Deputy Quaide, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on disability and mental health, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cPre-legislative scrutiny with service providers, representative bodies and legal experts is confirming the reality that so-called AON \u2018reform\u2019 is a misguided response to failure by successive governments to build properly staffed, integrated services across Primary Care, Children\u2019s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs) and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies are stuck in a system that does not work for them. A child can be sent from one waiting list to the next with no clear pathway to necessary supports. Parents then look for the one route that gives them some certainty \u2013 that route is the AON process. It is the one clear legal right families have, and the one process which seems to have a guarantee of some outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cService providers such as Enable Ireland and St Gabriel\u2019s Foundation, as well as a representative body, the Psychological Society of Ireland, have told us plainly that families are going down the AON route because it can feel like the quickest way to be heard \u2014 and sometimes the only way to get a clear answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the government tightens, reshapes, or limits the AON route without properly resourcing Primary Care, CDNTs and CAMHS, it does not reduce need. It simply removes the one lever families feel they have, while unmet need continues to grow across services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis legislative change is a misdirection of focus from what is most urgently needed \u2013 proper workforce planning, recruitment and integration of services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still don\u2019t have clear staffing benchmarks for Primary Care and we still don\u2019t have a serious, comprehensive recruitment drive in this area \u2013 even though Primary Care is the most crisis-hit part of our child and adolescent services.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also have concerns about outsourcing AON assessments. This approach fragments care and creates perverse incentives for clinicians to leave the public sector. The \u20ac20m being invested in privately outsourced AONs should be used to recruit permanent staff to rebuild our Primary Care services.<\/p>\n
\u201cReal reform means a multi-annual funded workforce plan, clear staffing benchmarks, urgent recruitment and a single point of access that works so children are seen quickly in the right service and supported, as far as possible, within the same service.\u201d<\/p>\n
March 6, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government\u2019s proposed changes to the Assessment of Need (AON) process \u2014 currently going through pre-legislative scrutiny in the Oireachtas \u2014 is essentially cover for years of service development failure, according to Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide. Deputy Quaide, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on disability and mental health, said: \u201cPre-legislative scrutiny with service providers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[734,809,499,652,653,7,818],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assessment-of-need","category-camhs","category-disability","category-liam-quaide","category-mental-health","category-press-release","category-primary-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n