Targeted reforms to improve the Assessment of Need (AON) process for children and their families have been announced.
Legislation will be required to introduce the reforms which Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley acknowledged would take time.
Minister Foley said the reforms will lead to a faster and more efficient way of carrying out AON reports, instead of "tying up therapists' time unnecessarily".
Assessment officers will be supported by 11 new teams comprising 44 experts, who will provide clinical guidance and support during the AON process.
Each team will include a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist, and an administrator.
The minister added that the aim is to provide a faster more efficient process. Identifying the need at an early point in a child's life is required.
The changes will not remove any rights for parents to apply for an AON for their children, and they will not alter the statutory six-month timeline set out in the Disability Act.
It will also remain the case that an AON is not required to access health services.
Legislation will make process faster, says department
The department said the legislation will make the process faster, ensuring children to not receive unnecessary assessments or tests and that it will help children to receive "a timelier report that identifies their needs and the services required to meet those needs".
Asked how much faster the process will be, Minister Foley pointed out that pre-legislative scrutiny was required but the current length it was taking - including 30 hours in some cases - was too long.
However, she acknowledged that each child needed to be treated individually as no child's needs are the same.
Minister Foley also noted that the Department of Education will shortly agree a new process to remove requirements for professional reports such as AON reports, from entry requirements for special schools and special classes.
This process is unlikely to be introduced until September 2027.
An Autism Assessment and Intervention Protocol which will be launched in February, to provide parents with a faster route than the AON route of getting an autism diagnosis for their children.
Opposition call for specific date for AON compliance
Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, Independent Ireland, People Before Profit, Aontú and the Green Party have jointly called on the Government to set a specific target date for compliance with the State's legal obligations to provide an assessment of needs within six months.
They are also calling for an urgent workforce plan to recruit, train and retain enough staff to deliver a service that will not breach children's rights.
Sinn Féin deputy leader Pearse Doherty said the Government is breaking the law in the cases of tens of thousands of children who are being denied assessments that they need.
He said the law requires children are assessed withing six months but that they are waiting on average for 27 months.
"This has dire consequences for these children," he said.
"Early intervention is key and that is why the six-month rule exists.
"Every day a child waits for their assessment is a delay in their development . Any parent of a child with additional needs will tell you that every day makes a difference."
Minister Foley told the Dáil that she and Government are not going to oppose the Sinn Féin motion, just as they did not oppose a similar motion earlier in the year.
She acknowledged the commitment and passion of 15-year-old protester Cara Darmody and her father Mark, and said she wants to assure Cara and all families wating for an assessment of need that the Government "recognises and shares the concerns raised in this motion. I know that families have endured incredible stress and unacceptable delays in receiving AON reports."
She is calling for an immediate emergency national recruitment campaign to find therapists and psychologists into services.
"This is a national disgrace, I asked the Government a couple of months ago, multiple asks and they gave me every single ask except for one, which they gave partially, on a national recruitment campaign."
Cara said the Government had made a mess of the campaign as nobody was aware of it.
Additional reporting Joe Mag Raollaigh
