Hundreds of Louth children waiting over a year for disability assessment

Hundreds of children in County Louth have been waiting over a year for a disability assessment, new figures have revealed.

Louth Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne recently submitted a parliamentary question related to Assessments of Need (AON) to Minister for Children Norma Foley.

Deputy Byrne asked for the number of children in County Louth waiting for an Assessment of Need at the latest available point in 2024 and 2025.

She also requested the number of assessments conducted in 2024 and year-to-date in 2026.

In her response, Minister Foley revealed that 635 AON applications were made in 2024, of which just 131 were completed.

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Meanwhile, 659 applications were made in 2025, with 219 assessments completed by the end of the year.

As a result, there were a total of 1,043 children waiting to be assessed by the end of last year.

The maths shows that at least 398 of the cases that were overdue at the end of 2024 were still outstanding at the end of 2025.

In her response, Minister Foley said: “There has been a noted improvement in the number of Assessment of Need reports completed in the Louth LHO (Local Health Office) in 2025 compared to 2024, with a 67 per cent increase on the previous year.

“In December 2025, Government announced a series of reforms to the Assessment of Need process which will make the process more effective and efficient for children and families.”

She added that this should lead to a reduction in the waiting time to receive an assessment.

In a separately submitted question, Deputy Byrne requested the number of children waiting for Children’s Disability Network Team (CDNT) services in County Louth.

The most recent data provided by the HSE at individual CDNT level to the end of November 2025 shows that there were 716 children being supported by the Dundalk CDNT.

There were 37 children on the waiting list. Meanwhile, 913 children were being supported by the Drogheda CDNT with 266 on the waiting list.

CDNT teams provide therapeutic services to children with complex needs arising from their disability.

In some areas, supports are provided to children and families who are on CDNT waiting lists.

These supports can include the provision of universal and targeted webinars, workshops, handouts and online materials for commonly identified topics.