Schoolgirl campaigner Cara Darmody to meet HSE boss over autism services

The 12-year-old Tipperary girl wants the State to pay for private assessments for children waiting more than three months to be assessed by the HSE.

She also wants the provision of services after an assessment is conducted to be speeded up.

In a petition to the Oireachtas Committee on Public Petitions she filed in January, she also called for more State funding for autistic services and for a full review of the means-tested weekly carers' allowance.

“I don’t doubt the Taoiseach will be well briefed by his advisers before we meet on Wednesday,” Cara told the Irish Examiner.

I want to be briefed as well and to hear from Bernard Gloster what is the current state of play with regard to the much-needed reforms that so many people have been asking for for years.”

In July last year, the schoolgirl met Micheál Martin in his office when he was taoiseach to raise awareness about the lack of autism support.

Later, in an impassioned speech to the Joint Committee on Autism, she urged health officials to “just do your job”.

Cara, whose campaign also led to her appearance on the Late Late Show, entered the history books as the youngest person ever to address a Dáil committee.

Cara sat the Junior Cert maths exam last summer and this summer, she sat Leaving Cert maths, making her the youngest child to sit both Junior and Leaving Cert maths papers.

The schoolgirl, from Ardfinnan, Tipperary, has two brothers with autism, Neil, aged 10, and John, aged five.

A HSE spokesperson said: “Everyone working in the HSE is very aware of the importance of children's disability services and early intervention in the lives of many families all over Ireland.

“It is not acceptable to have to wait an extended time for either an assessment of your child's needs or therapy that would help your child and family.

“We are sorry to those families who have had a poor experience in trying to access services.”