Cavan-Monaghan TD Pauline Tully has called on the HSE to engage with representatives from various bodies working in Children's Disability Network Teams.
The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Disability and Carers said she was reacting to a joint statement issued by bodies acting on behalf of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, social workers and psychologists.
That letter highlighted safety, clinical governance and risk management concerns and the representative bodies said the concerns were having a "significant effect on staff retention".
In a statement, Pauline Tully said there are currently 10,000 children with disabilities waiting over a year for initial contact with a children's disability network team.
There are also 5,484 overdue applications for the assessment of need process in the first quarter of this year but with a staff vacancy rate of over a third of the workforce, Ms Tully said she "isn't surprised."
Deputy Tully continued; " Professionals in the field need to be listened to. They are the people at the coalface. Their concerns need to be taken on board and addressed urgently. They are the people having to try to deliver assessments and therapy interventions with over a third of their workforce vacant.
"Another issue seriously effecting recruitment and retention within CDNTs is the disparity in pay and conditions between HSE and Section 38 workers compared to Section 39 workers who are carrying out the same duties.
"The government has let this get to the stage where industrial action is going to take place from the 17th October if a fair resolution is not found. I am calling on the Government to seriously engage with the unions, make a fair offer to these workers, and prevent the need for strike action."
