DUBLIN, Ireland: More than 16,500 children in Ireland are still awaiting the completion of an Assessment of Need (AON), according to new Health Service Executive (HSE) data covering the first half of 2025.

The figures highlight a continuing backlog in assessments that determine whether a child has a disability and requires specific supports under the Disability Act 2005.

By the end of the second quarter, 16,593 children were on the waiting list for AON completion. Of these, 13,998 had been waiting for over three months. This includes 1,054 cases in which the HSE agreed to extended timelines with parents due to exceptional circumstances.

Demand for assessments has risen sharply. In the first six months of 2025, the HSE received 6,613 new applications — 3,482 of them in the second quarter alone. This represents a 25 percent increase compared with the same period in 2024. The HSE projects that by year's end, it could receive up to 13,000 applications.

In Q2 2025, only 12 percent of assessments were completed within the legally required timeframes set out in the Disability Act and its regulations. Nonetheless, 1,516 assessments were completed during the quarter, up 53 percent from 992 in Q2 2024. For the first half of 2025, 2,928 AONs have been finalised, a rise attributed to increased funding aimed at tackling the backlog.

The percentage of completed assessments resulting in a finding of "No Disability" has grown over time, from 15.8 percent in 2010 to 26 percent in 2025.

In Dublin and the North East — serving North Dublin, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, and most of Cavan — 5,204 children are overdue, and 4,386 have been waiting over three months.

In Dublin and the South East, which covers South-East Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, and most of Wicklow, 2,524 children are awaiting assessment.

In the South West region, including Cork and Kerry, 1,359 children are overdue, with 1,005 waiting beyond three months.

The West and North West region — covering Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, West Cavan, Mayo, Galway, and Roscommon — has 916 children waiting for their assessments to be completed.

To address the bottleneck, the HSE has commissioned 4,976 AONs from private providers between June 2024 and June 2025. Officials say this outsourcing is intended to ease regional backlogs and help meet legal obligations.

While the HSE notes progress compared with last year, the scale of the waiting list and the low percentage of on-time completions underscore the ongoing challenge of delivering timely disability assessments for children across the country.