Opposition to force government’s hand on disability rights, says O’Callaghan

The 34th Dáil has seen the combined opposition work together on a number of issues, such as speaking time rights and now, disability rights.

Next week, the combined opposition will challenge the government to tackle the assessment of needs crisis.

Acting Social Democrats leader Cian O’Callaghan said, “it’s time for the government to finally act on their promise to address the assessment of need crisis.”

The Dublin Bay North TD noted, “according to the Disability Act 2005, an assessment of need must be completed within six months of the date the application is received, yet in the first three months of this year, just 7% of assessments were carried out within the required period.”

Calling this statistic “outrageous,” O’Callaghan said “the Disability Act is being flouted as if were an optional extra instead of the law of the land.”

“Every child in this country should be empowered to reach their full potential. It is a scandal that children with additional needs are being left behind during critical early years of their development.”

“Successive governments have promised to address this crisis – but those promises have never been kept. Waiting lists are now growing exponentially, and more more children are being failed. ”

Dubbing this policy an “abject failure,” O’Callaghan said that his party and the opposition now feel compelled to act and will bring a joint motion to the Dáil when it returns on Tuesday, throwing down the gauntlet to the government.

“We are timing this motion to coincide with a protest by 14-year-old campaigner Cara Darmody, who has tirelessly advocated on this issue for years,” he said.

“The government must support our motion – and, more crucially, implement the policy changes it contains that will resolve this crisis.”

Over the course of 2025, this outlet has reported on a number of protests outside government buildings by parents of children with additional needs.

In one article, a Tallaght parent named Susan explained the cruel Catch-22 within the Irish system.

For a child to be deemed eligible for a special class, they need an up-to-date diagnosis.

In Susan’s case, her son was on a three-year waiting list to be seen publicly, but the school she was applying to required a diagnosis from within the last two years.

In April, the Minister for Education has pledged to fix the crisis, but the opposition are now working to hold the government to account on the issue.