CDNT Ireland: How Referral Works, Waiting List Reality, and What to Do While You Wait

If your child has been referred to a Children's Disability Network Team — or you have been told they need to be — you are entering a system that is under severe, documented pressure. Knowing exactly how CDNTs operate, what the referral process involves, and what you can do during the waiting period makes a meaningful difference to how your family experiences the next year or more.

What Is a CDNT?

A Children's Disability Network Team (CDNT) is a multidisciplinary team of health professionals employed by the HSE to assess and support children with complex disabilities and developmental needs. A typical CDNT includes:

• Clinical psychologists
• Occupational therapists (OTs)
• Speech and language therapists (SLTs)
• Physiotherapists
• Social workers
• Behaviour support specialists

CDNTs replaced the older model of separate Disability Teams and Early Intervention Teams in 2021 as part of a national restructuring. There are 93 CDNTs across Ireland, each covering a defined geographic area under one of the nine Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) regions.

CDNTs are the primary HSE pathway for children with significant disabilities — including autism, intellectual disability, complex sensory and physical needs, and ADHD where it is accompanied by significant developmental complexity. The CDNT delivers both assessment and ongoing therapeutic intervention.

How CDNT Referral Works

Referral to a CDNT typically comes from:

• A GP (the most common referral route)
• A public health nurse
• A paediatrician
• A hospital-based specialist
• In some cases, a school or preschool professional

Parents cannot self-refer directly to a CDNT in the traditional sense, though they can apply for an Assessment of Need through the HSE independently of the CDNT referral process. In practice, an AON application often triggers CDNT involvement, since the Assessment of Need process is co-ordinated through the HSE's CDNT infrastructure.

When seeking a CDNT referral, visit your GP and be specific about your child's difficulties. Bring written notes covering developmental history, current concerns, and any documentation you have from preschool or school. The GP's referral letter is the formal gateway; the more detailed and specific it is, the better positioned your child is for triage on the waiting list.

The Waiting List: What the Data Shows

There is no way to soften this. CDNT waiting lists in Ireland are among the most severe in the public health system.

As of late 2025, nearly 13,000 children were waiting for initial therapeutic interventions through CDNTs. In CHO 9 (parts of Dublin), over 2,400 children had been waiting more than twelve months just for initial contact — meaning a first appointment, not a completed assessment. The average wait for a full CDNT assessment in many areas runs well past 18 months from referral.

Regional variation is significant. In HSE Dublin and Midlands, 6,585 AON applications were overdue for completion at Q3 2025. Conversely, some rural CHO areas report shorter initial contact waits but limited staffing for ongoing therapeutic services once a child does enter the system.

The geographic disparity is profound enough that some families in CHO areas with extreme wait times have explored whether relocating to a different CHO area — and transferring their waiting list position — is viable. National policy states that accrued waiting time should transfer with the child, but in practice local capacity constraints often mean partial delays reset upon transfer.

What the CDNT Actually Does: Assessment vs Intervention

It is important to understand that a CDNT provides two distinct services, and the pathway to each can differ.

Assessment — A multidisciplinary evaluation of the child's needs, typically including psychological assessment, OT assessment, SLT assessment, and integration of findings into a clinical report. For children who have applied for an Assessment of Need under the Disability Act 2005, the CDNT typically conducts the assessment that feeds into the AON report.

Intervention — Ongoing therapeutic services: speech and language therapy sessions, occupational therapy, psychology review, physiotherapy. Following assessment, a child who meets the CDNT's eligibility criteria enters the service for therapy delivery.

Both streams have their own waiting lists. A child may reach the top of the assessment waiting list, receive a completed assessment, and then face a separate wait of months or years before therapeutic intervention actually begins.

What Happens When the CDNT Cannot Deliver

One of the starkest features of the current system is the gap between what the Assessment Report recommends and what the Service Statement delivers.

After a completed AON, the Liaison Officer drafts a Service Statement — a document outlining what the HSE will actually provide, factoring in available staffing and resources. An Assessment Report may identify a need for weekly SLT and fortnightly OT. The Service Statement may offer only a parent-training programme or a place on an intervention waiting list with no scheduled start date.

If the services offered in the Service Statement are inadequate relative to what the assessment identified, you have the right to appeal this statement to the Office of the Disability Appeals Officer (ODAO) within 10 weeks of receipt.

Families who cannot access CDNT therapy in a timely manner often turn to private therapy — privately funded OT, SLT, and psychology sessions. The HSE's own guidance explicitly states that accessing private therapy does not forfeit a child's place on the public CDNT waiting list. If you take this route, inform the CDNT in writing that you are pursuing private therapy as an interim measure and that you wish to retain your position on the public waiting list.

The CDNT and School: A Common Misconception

Many parents assume that once their child is in the CDNT system, the school will automatically be informed and will coordinate with the CDNT team. This does not happen automatically.

The CDNT operates under the Department of Health. Schools operate under the Department of Education. These systems do not share a common case management infrastructure. Therapeutic recommendations that emerge from CDNT work need to be actively communicated to the school by parents.

When you receive reports or recommendations from CDNT clinicians, formally submit them to the school's principal or SEN coordinator. Request a meeting to discuss how the CDNT's findings will be integrated into the child's Student Support Plan. Under Department of Education Circular 0013/2017, schools must use professional clinical assessments to inform their understanding of a child's needs and the interventions documented in the Student Support Plan.

Do not assume this translation happens automatically. It requires your active intervention.

Strategies for the CDNT Waiting Period

The period between referral and first contact with a CDNT is not dead time. Here is where to focus.

Submit the AON application in parallel. If your child has been referred to a CDNT, also submit a formal Assessment of Need application directly to your CHO Assessment Officer by registered post. The AON is a legal process distinct from (though related to) the CDNT referral. Start the statutory clock as early as possible.

Engage the school's Continuum of Support. Request that the school open a Student Support File and begin formal Continuum of Support interventions. Documented school-based work — even at the Classroom Support level — builds an evidence record and often makes the difference when CDNT clinicians eventually conduct their assessment.

Build a home observation log. Start keeping dated written notes of specific incidents and patterns — communication difficulties, sensory responses, sleep, social interactions, emotional regulation. Clinical assessors triangulate across multiple informants. A detailed parent log from the months preceding assessment is valuable evidence.

Request NEPS involvement via the school. If your child's difficulties are significantly affecting their school learning, separately request through the principal that a NEPS educational psychology consultation be arranged. NEPS and CDNT serve different purposes; both can be sought simultaneously.

Consider a private assessment. If your family can absorb the cost, a private clinical assessment from a PSI-registered psychologist or CORU-registered therapist provides a current diagnostic profile that can be used immediately in the school system. Private assessment does not remove your child from the public CDNT waiting list. The private report can be submitted to the school to update the Student Support Plan while you wait for the CDNT to deliver.

When You Move Between CHO Areas

If your family relocates to a different CHO area while your child is on a CDNT waiting list, contact the receiving CHO immediately in writing, providing your child's referral date and documentation of their waiting list status. National policy is that accrued waiting time transfers. Follow up to confirm this has been actioned — do not assume administrative transfer happens automatically.

Also request that the departing CDNT provide a formal transfer summary of any work completed, reports generated, or clinical plans in progress. Bring these to the receiving CDNT at first contact.

Getting the Most from Your First CDNT Appointment

When your child's first CDNT appointment eventually arrives, prepare thoroughly.

Bring every report you have — from private assessments, the school's Student Support File (you can request a copy via GDPR Subject Access Request), preschool records, GP correspondence, and your observation log. The first appointment is often a parent intake session rather than a direct assessment of the child; use it to establish the full picture of your child's developmental history and current concerns.

Ask at the first appointment: What is the expected timeline to complete assessment? What is the process for accessing therapeutic intervention after assessment? Who is the named key worker for your child's case within the CDNT?

For the full pathway — including how to escalate an AON that has gone overdue, how to use CDNT and private reports in the school system, and what template letters to use when advocating for your child at school — the Ireland Educational Assessment Decoder covers each stage of the Irish SEN system with Ireland-specific detail and ready-to-use advocacy tools.

See more Ireland guides →