Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said that it is entirely unacceptable that 4,763 children in the CHO7 area which incorporates Dublin South West were waiting on an Assessment of Need at the beginning of this month.

Teachta Crowe said that the fact 3,705 of those children have been waiting longer than 12 months represents a broken system that has been reduced to gridlock by the Pay and Numbers recruitment freeze.

Teachta Crowe said:

“There are 4,763 children in the CHO7 area which incorporates Dublin South West were waiting on an Assessment of Need. This number have increased by 70% in less than two years. It is an astonishing figure that demonstrates just how inept this government is.

“Of that figure, 3,705 of those children have been waiting longer than 12 months to be seen. It is a broken system that has been reduced to gridlock by the Pay and Numbers recruitment freeze.

“An Taoiseach Micheál Martin stood in the Dáil recently and said that children without a AON can still access treatment. Any parent in that situation knows that you will only be met with blank faces without one and the already immense task of accessing therapies for a child becomes all but impossible.

“Parents are being forced into paying for private assessments which can cost hundreds if not thousands of euro just to join another queue to access the therapies themselves. We are failing children and we are failing their parents.

“This Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael government have abandoned children most in need and seem to have no plan to deal with it. Every facet of the Health Service is experiencing massive vacancies in staffing and it is patients who are suffering.”