The High Court has ruled that the HSE's Assessment of Need process for children falls short of what is required under the Disability Act.
An Assessment of Need is carried out for children who have or are suspected of having a disability.
In January 2020, in an effort to reduce waiting lists for Assessments of Need, the HSE introduced a Standard Operating Procedure.
The new procedure capped the clinical time of a preliminary assessment at 90 minutes.
However, Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan found that the Standard Operating Procedure resulted in a situation where the assessment fell short of what is required under the Disability Act.
Under the act, children have a number of entitlements.
These include a statement of the services that they require, a determination as to whether they have a disability and the nature and extent of that disability.
There has been criticism that the new procedure has impeded the ability of assessment officers to properly assess children.
Once an assessment of need is complete, many children will be referred to a specialist service. This can involve long waiting times.
Up to the end of September more than 34,000 children were waiting more than a year for community health service.
In her judgment today, Ms Justice Phelan said that "it is only through the proper identification of need that steps can be taken to secure the services to meet that need".
The case was brought against the Health Service Executive on behalf of two children who were assessed for autism.
Ms Justice Phelan quashed the assessment of both children as they failed to comply with Disability Act.
In a statement, the Department of Health said that the Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte will be seeking an urgent meeting with the HSE.
It added that the Department "notes the decision of the High Court today in respect of the Standard Operating Procedure for Assessment of Need for children".
The Department said that the ruling is an operational matter for the HSE.
Sinn Féin's spokesperson on Health David Cullinane welcomed the ruling.
In a statement, both Deputy Cullinane and his party colleague Pauline Tully, the party's spokesperson on Disability and Carers, called on Anne Rabbitte to properly resource assessment officers to carry out the full Assessment of Need in compliance with the Act.
