Tipperary teenager Cara Darmody met with the Taoiseach Simon Harris again this week to address the ongoing struggles faced by families trying to access basic services for autism.
The Ardfinnan student has been campaigning weekly outside Leinster House over the summer months to highlight that the Government is breaking the Assessments of Needs Law which states that autistic children must be assessed by the HSE within 6 months.
She has met with the Taoiseach on a number of occasions – however Cara told Tipp Today earlier that her latest contact with Simon Harris left her a little disappointed.
“He told me basically that he wasn’t going to be able to give a deadline as to when they were going to stop allowing the HSE to break the Assessments of Needs Law. He said he’s going to make sure that they stop doing it but he can’t say when and I’m a little bit disappointed. I gave him a 12 month deadline and I thought 12 months was really generous because it’s a national crisis. I mean the house is on fire but he’s saying that they’re not going to be able to do it within 12 months.”
