HSE has almost 700 vacancies for staff to assess children’s additional needs

A senior High Court judge has welcomed efforts being made to deal with the “dramatic” recent increase in court actions against the Health Service Executive (HSE) over the assessment of children with special needs.

On Wednesday, Mr Justice Charles Meenan was told by lawyers for the HSE and those representing 20 plaintiff families that attempts are being made to resolve the issue raised by the court.

David Leahy SC, for the HSE, said his client has been making efforts to deal with the backlog of cases.

There is “no shortage of funding available” for the assessment of the children’s needs, he said.

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Unfortunately, there is an issue recruiting staff, he said, adding that there are currently 695 vacancies for assessors.

Counsel said it is hoped the situation will improve in the coming weeks when the HSE recommences reporting staff shortages in this area directly to the Minister for Health.

Direct reporting on this issue to the Minister has not been taking place for some years, the court heard.

Mr Leahy said a backlog in the system occurred when the process of preliminary assessments was deemed invalid by the High Court in March of this year. It is hoped this backlog will be cleared soon, he added.

Another issue that has arisen in some of the cases, counsel said, was that the HSE has no control over the assessment of educational needs.

These assessments are carried out by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), an autonomous body that comes under the remit of the Minister for Education, the court heard.

The applicants, represented by Feichin McDonagh SC and Brendan Hennessy BL, agreed that progress has been made. They suggested the NCSE should be contacted.

The judge had invited the parties to appear before him to address the increase in cases in judicial review proceedings brought by parents with young children with certain additional needs and requirements seeking various services.

Mr Justice Meenan, who is the judge in charge of the busy High Court judicial review list, said normally two to three new such cases come before the court per week.

However, since October there has been “a dramatic increase” with an average of seven to eight new applications per week, he said.

The judge said he was concerned the message that could emerge from this increase is that these services can only be accessed if parents bring High Court judicial review proceedings. He was also concerned parents of children who do not opt to come to court could end up being “left behind”.

Many of the cases seem to be resolved after the court grants leave, which is an early required step in the court process. However, he said, the increase in cases is problematic because the judicial review system is not set up to deal with this large volume.

While he was not making any judgment about who is responsible for what is clearly a problematic situation, he had invited various parties to court to find “efficient” and “cost-effective” solutions to the issues.

After hearing the parties’ submissions, the judge welcomed progress made to date and encouraged the sides to continue trying “to speed up things as much as possible.”

He also suggested that the Minister for Education should be contacted about the issues relating to the NCSE.

The court previously noted that all of the cases have been brought on behalf of young children who are seeking various reliefs from the court, including orders requiring the HSE to commence and complete reviews of assessment of need applications. Others relate to the access of services outside of the applicants’ home areas.

In the actions, applicants typically seek declarations that the HSE has failed to comply with its legal obligations under the 2005 Disability Act by failing to complete an assessment of a child’s needs within a reasonable time frame.

None of the parties involved in the actions can be named due to court orders.