The Taoiseach is to be held to account when he meets with a Tipperary disability activist early next month.
12 year old Ardfinnan girl Cara Darmody has gained national recognition for her efforts to raise awareness and funds for families of autistic children.
Her brothers Neil and John are severely autistic. She has been calling for a meeting with Leo Varadkar to highlight the difficulties facing families like hers.
Speaking on Tipp Today earlier Cara’s father Marc said Deputy Alan Kelly has arranged a 40 minute meeting with the Taoiseach on July 5th next.
He says that meeting is hugely important.
“That is not a PR meeting. That’s ‘are you going to do this – are you setting a date to pay private assessments or are you not?’. And if he’s not the cameras will be waiting outside and that’s what we’ll be telling the cameras – that he has no interest in this. Hopefully we can tell them that he has great interest in this and that he’s going to set a date. We’ll be extremely fair but we’re going to hold him to account on that day.”
A report was published this week by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism which made 109 recommendations.
Speaking on Tipp Today earlier Marc welcomed the findings but said there was one glaring omission.
“The only criticism I have of the report is there’s nothing in there about holding the HSE to account. I often use the example of a drunk driver – the drunk driver is in charge of health right now in this country so don’t be surprised when they continue to crash. The HSE is just crashing everything – this is who is in charge of this – and they’re a disaster.
“When is the government going to hold them to account? As long as they put this report on the HSE to implement it, there’s your problem.”
