Almost 46,000 people are awaiting first time assessment for occupational therapy, as of March 2025, with a TD saying one child has been waiting 19 months for “basic OT” despite having “a partial amputation of the leg” and requiring a new prosthetic.
Independent TD Carol Nolan received the information in response to a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill where she had asked the minister to provide the current number of referrals to the primary care OT service.
Deputy Nolan said that the figures established there 45,993 patients awaiting first time assessment for occupational therapy nationally, as of March 2025. She added that there are 12,109 patients awaiting first time primary care assessment for occupational therapy (OT) in the HSE’s Dublin Midlands region, and that within that cohort are 2,130 patients in Offaly and Laois, her own region.
““I have dealt with one child who was on the waiting list for 19 months for basic OT despite the fact she had a partial amputation of the leg and required a new prosthetic. That is how bad things are and many families are only realising that when they need to use the service,” the Offaly TD said.
“The information provided to me will be deeply distressing and alarming to the thousands of families right across the midlands and indeed Offaly who feel utterly unseen and unheard by a health system that appears to be operating in a near permanent state of crisis.”
“We now know that are almost 100 children in Offaly and Laois below the age of 4 who are waiting for a first-time assessment for OT at primary care level, some up to a year. We know that there are 700 between the ages of 5 and 17.”
“If you are age 65+ the situation is even worse as there are over 1000 patients in that category with 434 of them waiting over a year. The damage this is doing to quality of life is immeasurable.”
“These numbers absolutely reflect the level of need and demand that my constituency offices deal with on a weekly basis. I have parents coming to me in a state of complete shock and bewilderment following repeated attempts to access minimal levels of service. They simply cannot take in how difficult it is to access care, even where the need for immediate intervention is categorically clear and when they see billions pumped into the HSE at Budget time.”
“One of the most frustrating aspects of this problem is that because of the scale of the crisis, and how prolonged it has been, it is very difficult to make a dent in the numbers waiting in the short term. But what we can do is try and leverage whatever private sector capacity exists to reduce overall demand.”
“At the very least we need to be ensuring that there are significantly increased levels of capacity being introduced into third level. We need far more graduate therapists, and we need to ensure that they can stay here when they do graduate. That is why addressing this problem demands a whole of government approach, particularly around housing and career trajectories.”
“At the local level here in Offaly I will be seeking absolute assurances that the Birr Primary Care Centre, which is due to provide OT services among others, will be fully staffed and resourced.”
“Government must realise that there is an epidemic of silent pain and frustration happening right now in tens of thousands of families across the state; families who feel betrayed and ignored often after a lifetime of working only to then feel abandoned when their children, grandchildren, or they themselves need basic help,” concluded Deputy Nolan.