Schoolgirl autism campaigner to mount protest outside the Dáil
Cara At From Co Gareth With Photos File Darmody Father Leinster House Tipperary, Mark, Picture: Her Chaney/collins Ardfinnan,
Schoolgirl autism campaigner Cara Darmody is to mount a Greta Thunberg-style protest outside the Dáil from next week.
The 13-year-old, who has two severely autistic brothers, is campaigning for better autism services and plans to be outside the Dáil every week until the summer recess for at least one and maybe two days per week.
She had face-to-face meetings with Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin when they were taoiseach over her campaign.
Despite meeting them to air her demands for services, she says still not enough is being done and there remain serious issues around assessment and access to services.
She is looking for needs assessments for all within “months” rather than the current number of years children have to wait.
Cara, from Ardfinnan, Co Tipperary, also wants autistic children to be able to access the services they need within “months” of their assessments, rather than “years”.
Under the Disability Act 2005, the HSE is legally obliged to have a child’s needs assessed within six months.
However, according to the latest statistics, overdue assessments of need stood at 8,893 as of March.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said in the Dáil last month he is “not happy” with “where we are on assessment of needs”.
He said this was why the Government recently announced an additional €12m last week to “try to address the backlog in families waiting for an assessment of need”.
Cara also wants the Government to commit to providing monthly statements on exactly how many autistic children have received a first needs assessment and how many have started accessing the services they need.
“Apart from anything else, I want the Government to abide by their own laws with regard to autism and special needs,” she said.
“They are obliged by law to make sure someone has been assessed within six months of them having asked to be assessed but this is not happening.”
Last August, Cara became the youngest person in Ireland to pass Leaving Certificate maths.
She took both ordinary level papers at her national school in Ardfinnan, and got 97%.
It is the same mark she got when she sat Junior Certificate maths in 2022.
She sat both exams as part of her campaign to raise funds for autism services.
Cara, whose two brothers Neil and John are severely autistic, has won thousands of admirers across the country for her commitment to changing the status quo.
Throughout her campaigning, she has met senior politicians and she has also spent time in the Oireachtas, speaking to TDs and senators.
Cara’s father, Mark, said of his daughter’s forthcoming protest: “We’re so proud of her, and we fully support her in what she has decided to do.
"Let’s see if she can get some traction with the Government.”