Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland

Lobbying Organisation Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland

Date published 21 Sep, 2021

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Health

Period 1 May, 2021 to 31 Aug, 2021

Specific Details AOTI with colleagues from the Health and Social Care Professions Alliance (HSCPA) wrote to the Minister of State with Responsibility for Disability to highlight the redirection of HSCP staff into the administration role of Assessment Officer for Assessments of Need

Intended results We sought the Minister's engagement on the governance and operation of Assessments of Need within CHO7 to end the redeployment of HSCP staff as Assessment Officers

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Odhrán Allen, Chief Strategy Officer, AOTI

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Letter (1)

1. The Assessment Officer is supposed to make an independent determination as to whether or not the child has a disability based on a HSCP professional’s assessment report. Involving HSCPs in both the assessment of the child and the determination means there is loss of independence in the AON process. We feel this contravenes the requirements of the Act. 2. The further redirection of HSCP staff away from frontline service delivery into an administrative role, coupled with the fact that this was done without consultation, is a source of great dissatisfaction and very hard to justify.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Anne Rabbitte Minister of State (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth)

Anne Rabbitte Minister of State (Department of Health)