Judge Meenan welcomes HSE response to special needs cases

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

High Court judge Charles Meenan welcomed efforts to address the rise in special needs assessment cases on 14 December 2022, when lawyers for the HSE and 20 families said they were trying to resolve the issue he had raised.

The HSE said it was working to address a backlog and reported 695 vacancies for assessors. Its lawyer said funding was available, while recruitment difficulties remained.

The report said the backlog followed a High Court ruling that preliminary assessments were invalid. Some educational needs assessments are carried out by the National Council for Special Education, which is under the Minister for Education.

Meenan said that since October an average of seven to eight new applications a week had sought permission to bring judicial review challenges over assessments. He voiced concern that families might come to believe court action was the only way to access services, and that those who did not go to court could be left behind.