The Ombudsman for Children's Office has expressed concern over the high number of children with disabilities still waiting for an assessment of their needs.

It comes just over a year since the publication of 'Unmet Needs', a report on the challenges faced by those requiring assessments.

There are nearly 4,000 children currently waiting for an Assessment of Need.

That is despite the introduction of the revised Standard Operation Procedure and other measures aimed at tackling the backlog.

The Ombudsman for Children has called for the Health Service Executive to appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to account "fully and publicly" for the ongoing problems with Assessment of Need, despite significant commitments made to address these problems.

Dr Niall Muldoon said an explanation was needed from the HSE for the build-up in cases again, and that they must outline what has been done to address it.

Dr Muldoon outlined one complaint he received on the issue recently made on behalf of Callum*. The six-year-old has been awaiting a HSE multidisciplinary assessment for four years - since he was 28 months old.

The Ombudsman for Children has said there are too many children like Callum waiting far too long for an assessment and the same children will have to wait again for the services they need.

Since the publication of Unmet Needs in October 2020, the OCO says measures had been introduced aimed at dealing with the waiting lists, including the allocation of additional financial resources, the establishment of new therapy posts, the implementation of a revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and the reconfiguration of children's disability services into Children's Disability Network Teams.

However, Dr Muldoon said that instead "we are seeing another worrying rise in the number of children waiting to be assessed".

In a statement, he added that the Assessment of Need delays are not a Covid problem - that this has been an issue for many years.

"The HSE needs to explain why these measures, not least the introduction of the SOP, do not appear to be working," he said.

"Further clarity is also needed as to exactly how many children are waiting for their needs to be assessed - the HSE quarterly data referenced by Minister Rabbitte is not yet publicly available. We need to know the average wait time and what areas of the country are most impacted."