7,500 children waiting for first contact from disability teams

Michael Bolton

Figures from the HSE show 7,500 children are waiting for first contact with a Child Disability Network Team (CDNT) at the end of April.

This is a drop from the 8,200 children who were waiting for first contact at the end of March.

Of the 7,500 children waiting for first contact at the end of April, 4,776 are waiting for over a year.

The Regional Healthcare Area (RHA) with the highest number of children waiting for first contact is HSE Dublin South East, with 1,946 children on waiting lists.

Of those children, 1,381 are waiting over a year for first contact.

This RHA covers Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, and most of Wicklow.

HSE Dublin Midlands, which covers Dublin South City and West and Dublin South West, Kildare, West Wicklow, Laois, Offaly, Longford, and Westmeath, has 1,933 children waiting for first contact.

This includes 1,423 waiting for first contact.

HSE Dublin and North East, which covers North Dublin, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, and most of Cavan, has 1,743 children waiting for first contact. Of those, 1,091 are waiting for over a year.

At HSE Midwest, covering Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary, 1,035 children are waiting for first contact, with 604 waiting over a year.

HSE West and North West, which provides care for Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, West Cavan, Mayo, Galway and Roscommon, had 127 children waiting for first contact at the end of April.

A report in October 2025, there was an 18 per cent vacancy rate for positions within CDNTs, with 457 posts unfilled.

The HSE are the biggest lead agency over the 93 CDNTs, providing 43 of them.

Enable Ireland provides 20, while Brothers of Charity provide six.

The HSE said the Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) of the CDNTs has increased by 28 per cent since October 2023, with an extra 448 staff on teams, of which 320 are Health & Social Care Professionals on CDNTs across the country.

The National Service Plan 2026 outlines growth of 1,050 WTE during 2026.

The number of sanctioned posts and related funding available to recruit into any Disability posts will be within the overall WTE of 23,664 by the end of 2026.