Latest news with #CaraDarmody
The Irish Sun
08-07-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
‘National disgrace & an international embarrassment', says campaigner as kids left waiting YEARS for psychology therapy
ONE child in Dublin has been waiting more than 13 YEARS for psychology therapy, shocking new figures show. It comes as teenage disabilities campaigner 2 Cara Darmody is calling on the Government to take action on the growing waiting list for assessments Credit: Cillian Sherlock/PA Wire Figures obtained by Social Democrats A child in In The devastating waits are equally as long for other therapies, such as occupational therapy, with one child in north Dublin waiting 502 weeks, while a young child in READ MORE IN NEWS For physiotherapy services, the longest on the waiting list is a child in north Lee, Co Cork, who has been waiting for the therapy for seven years. Deputy Quaide said he faced a battle just to get this data from the HSE, who were initially only willing to provide him info on how many children were waiting over one year without giving him access to the length of these waits. Teenager Cara Darmody – who has been campaigning for better services for her brothers who have additional needs – today held a briefing for politicians in Leinster House to highlight the shocking lack of therapies in Ireland for kids. Under the law, the State is required to provide an assessment of needs for children within six months – however, tens of thousands of children are not getting these checks to establish what therapies they need. Most read in Irish News Cara, from Ardfinnan in Co The teen said the crisis over Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald speaks in the Dail about scoliosis surgery waiting lists delays leading to inoperable condition She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers, Neil, 12, and John, eight, have autism and severe intellectual disabilities. Cara said they were "both failed dramatically by the State" in relation to the assessments and services that they received. However, she stressed that her advocacy is focused on the national picture rather than solely on the experiences of her brothers. 'TAKEN ABACK' During the briefing, Cara said that she had met with a Co Tipperary-based psychologist who claimed that "HSE red tape" is preventing her from doing more assessment of needs because an instruction from her local manager has meant she is tied up in supervising all aspects of the work of her junior psychologist colleagues. Cara said she recently told HSE chief Bernard Gloster about the experience of this psychologist, adding that he was "seriously taken aback" by what he heard. She said she asked Mr Gloster to launch a brand new, heavily advertised recruitment campaign for therapists and psychologists. 2 Campaigner Cara Darmody held a briefing for politicians in Leinster House Credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
BreakingNews.ie
08-07-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Teenage disability campaigner describes shortage of therapists as ‘myth'
A teenage disability campaigner has said it is a 'myth' that there is a shortage of therapists to carry out assessments of need (AONs). Cara Darmody (14) made the comment as she briefed several TDs and Senators on her campaign at Leinster House on Tuesday. Advertisement An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. Disability campaigner Cara Darmody (14) met Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and other opposition leaders outside the Dáil in May. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Cara, from Ardfinnan in Co Tipperary, said she wanted to call out the 'blatant lawbreaking' of the State by failing to complete assessments on time. The waiting list for assessments of need is projected to soar to almost 25,000 by the end of the year, and the campaigner said just 7 per cent are being completed on time. Advertisement Cara described the figures as 'frightening', adding that there were real children 'suffering horrifically at the hands of the State'. She also said she wanted to call out the 'myth' that there is a shortage of psychologists or therapists to carry out the assessments. Cara said the crisis over assessments of need has escalated to 'a national disgrace and an international embarrassment'. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers, Neil (12) and John (8) have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Advertisement Cara said they were 'both failed dramatically by the State' in relation to the assessments and services that they received. Cara staged a 50-hour protest against the backlog in the assessment of needs (AON) system outside Leinster House. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA However, she stressed that her advocacy is focused on the the national picture rather than solely on the experiences of her brothers. During the briefing, Cara said she had met with a Co Tipperary-based psychologist who claimed that 'HSE red tape' is preventing her from doing more AONs because an instruction from her local manager has meant she is tied up in supervising all aspects of the work of her junior psychologist colleagues. Cara said she recently told HSE chief Bernard Gloster about the experience of this psychologist, adding that he was 'seriously taken aback' by what he heard. Advertisement She said she asked Mr Gloster to launch a brand new, heavily advertised recruitment campaign for therapists and psychologists. Cara also told politicians that she had held a meeting with the commercial director of a British company that has access to 2,300 therapists that are available to conduct AONs. She did not name the company as she said she was not speaking to advance anyone's commercial interests, but wanted to use it as an example of capacity further afield. Cara acknowledged that vetting additional therapists could be a 'cumbersome' process, but stressed that this was a separate argument to one about a lack of capacity. Advertisement Cara is campaigning against a backlog in the assessment of needs (AON) system. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA At the briefing hosted by Sinn Féin in conjunction with other opposition politicians, Cara called for the Government to declare the situation around AONs as 'national emergency'. She also called on the Government to implement a taskforce to recruit therapists, and for all members of the Oireachtas to physically find and put forward psychologists and therapists to the HSE. Ireland Over 15,000 children overdue Assessment of Need co... Read More Following the briefing, Cara held a meeting with Minister of State for Mental Health and Government Chief Whip Mary Butler. She asked the Minister to bring her evidence around potential capacity solutions to Cabinet, as well as her request for political unity on the matter. A spokesman for Ms Butler said the minister had committed to relaying Cara's message to ministerial colleagues.
BreakingNews.ie
01-07-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
HSE chief admits waiting lists for assessments for children with disabilities will get worse
The head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) said on Tuesday that he was 'hugely' concerned at growing waiting lists for disabled children seeking vital health assessments and admitted the crisis will get worse. Bernard Gloster acknowledged a 'significant challenge' in tackling the crisis, with more than 15,000 children with serious disabilities waiting to access their legal right to assessments. Advertisement When asked if the crisis was 'going to get worse before it got better', Mr Gloster replied: 'Yes'. The HSE chief said: 'Until we get extra capacity and until we reform the legislation, we are going to be challenged.' 'It would be very wrong of me to say anything different to people across the country, it would be untruthful to do that,' he told reporters in Limerick. The HSE predicts that the children's assessment waiting lists will increase to beyond 25,000 by the end of this year. Advertisement After meeting Cara Daramody, a 14 year old campaigner for the rights of children with disabilities, Mr Gloster pledged that the HSE will advertise tenders for assessments to the private clinicians, to try and tackle the problem. Prior to the meeting, Ms Darmody, accompanied by her father Mark Darmody, called out the government via the HSE for breaching current legislation requiring it to provide health and education needs assessments for children with disabilities. Ms Darmody said children had been left to 'rot' on the waiting lists and urged Mr Gloster to act fast to rescue the waiting list backlog for the vital assessments. Ms Darmody, who led a 50-hour protest outside the Dáil last month highlighting the crisis, said she gave Mr Gloster 'crucial information that totally contradicts the myth that capacity has been reached in the system in relation to the number of psychologists available to assess autistic children'. Advertisement Ms Darmody said she also informed Mr Gloster that she is aware of 'private' clinicians who have sought to help reduce assessment waiting lists but who have been delayed in doing so by bureaucracy. Ms Darmody claimed she knows of at least one private clinician who could have 'eradicated' the AON waiting list in her home county of Tipperary over the last 12 months, by performing an additional 220 AONs, had they been given the opportunity. Ms Darmody said the clinician had applied for a HSE Assessment Tender last October, 'but only got confirmation a month ago' that they had been accepted. Ms Darmody questioned 'why in the middle of a national crisis did it take eight months', and she accused the government of not acting fast enough on the waiting lists. Advertisement Mr Gloster said this evening he was 'taken aback' at the details presented to him by Cara Darmody and Mark Darmody. Commenting on the alleged eight-month wait for the provision of the assessment tender, Mr Gloster said: 'I have to say, it can happen, we are a very big organisation and we have to have rules and systems, and they, by their nature, can become bureaucratic.' 'I'm the first to put my hands up and say, that's for us to do better.' 'I don't think that my own people are doing anything bad or wrong, but it is for us to better, we are paid public servants and Cara and her Dad are not.' Advertisement Mr Gloster said, going forward, he would try to 'tighten the timeline' on assessment tenders applications by the private sector. He acknowledged that 'in the short-term' the HSE required 'help' from the private system to help reduce the assessment waiting lists. 'In the next few weeks, we are going to redesign the specification of private sector provision to help us provide assessment of need,' Mr Gloster said. 'We are going to widely advertise and promote it, so that if there are suitably qualified clinicians who can conduct an assessment of need, and who are qualified and registered to do so, and are safe to do so, then there will be no issue with us using that additional capacity,' he said. 'Even if it possibly reduced the timeline for a couple of hundred (children), then it would be a really productive thing.' Mr Gloster said: 'If you apply for an assessment of need, you are entitled to it in law; you should be able to get it.' The Limerick health service boss said other 'challenges' existed beyond the assessments, including timelines over children's access to 'therapeutic support and intervention'. 'The amount of therapists we have in Ireland that are available to us is limited, but the government are making some really good interventions to increase the supply,' he said. Mr Gloster said that Cara and Mark Darmody's 'anecdotal evidence' of a possible reduction in the waiting lists may exist in the private system; their arguments to investigate it further were 'legitimate and appropriate'. Mr Gloster acknowledged that it had been 'a while' since the HSE had 'updated' its 'framework' of assessment providers, 'so, therefore, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain' by investigating potential capacity in the private system. 'If (it is) proven that there is capacity out there that isn't being used, we'll be delighted that more that can be done, because it means that we can immediately enter into arrangements with professionals to buy additional services to support our own (services),' Mr Gloster said. Ms Darmody described their meeting as 'extremely successful'. 'I got what I wanted from the meeting, which was for Mr Gloster to look into the issue and to start looking for solutions nationally, and in my own county, Tipperary, and possibly internationally,' Ms Darmody said.
RTÉ News
21-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
'Combined opposition' to continue for now, but for how long?
The sight of Opposition leaders gathering together on the plinth at Leinster House has become very familiar in recent weeks. The so-called "combined opposition" emerged as a force during the heat of the speaking rights row back in January when the Dáil failed to elect a Taoiseach. Since then, the group has pooled its weight and resources repeatedly to advance issues of mutual interest. In recent weeks, this has included joint motions on Israeli war bonds, the Raise the Roof protest and the support of disability campaigner Cara Darmody. At times, the collective approach has included leaders from Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, Independent Ireland and the Green Party. But what is really going on behind the scenes? One party source said it all flowed from the speakers' rights controversy, but added that it is also an evolution of co-operation in the last Dáil. They said: "It will continue where there are issues of common concern. But each individual party will want to maintain its own identity. "It's quite easy to agree to be against Government at the moment, there will be more nuances and policy differences as the Government goes on." One Sinn Féin TD said he saw real potential for co-operation on the issues of housing and the Middle East and that the move was about "combining and maximising collective strength". And all agree that the overlap with Independent Ireland is limited and they are diametrically opposed on key policy areas. But it is also clear that for Sinn Féin, this is about demonstrating to voters that there is a viable alternative Government - one made up of parties on the left. One party source said this hurt its vote in the last general election. "This is about showing that there is a viable alternative government in the medium term," they said. They point to the presence of Opposition spokespeople on stage at the Raise the Roof protest this week. "The physical presence of us stood together on the platform, that is a powerful symbol for those who want to see more cooperation and a potential alternative," they added. "Looking to the next election, the question is what is the alternative government?" A Social Democrats source also contended that this is partly about offering a realisable option to voters who do not support the current Government. They said: "The dynamic in this Dáil is unique. This is the second Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael government plus independents. These are two parties in decline over time, with a largely older voter base. "Looking to the next election, the question is what is the alternative government? A lot of people say to us that it is good to see you working together and that there appears to be an alternative." But all are clear that individual parties will continue to maintain their own identities and forge unique policies. Some in Labour and the Social Democrats said the whole dynamic has been overstated. A Labour source points out that they have "serious" differences with Sinn Féin on migration, housing and some tax issues. And it is clear that some have concerns about being perceived as tied to Sinn Féin. The Social Democrats has also rebuffed a few suggestions of joint appearances amid concern that the device could be overused. Behind the scenes, there have also been moves to change up the order of speakers at events so that Sinn Féin is not the assumed first speaker. This has been part of a concerted move to ensure Mary Lou McDonald is not seen as the de facto leader. Another source in a smaller party queries Sinn Féin's assertion that it is the "leader of the Opposition", suggesting this is language imported from Westminster where one large opposition party dominates. "Certainly there should not be a situation where Sinn Féin thinks it can call the shots," they said. Some Labour members have also fed back to party leadership that they are not happy with the joint approach on issues. Another source suggested that Sinn Féin has it "totally wrong" if it thinks it can present a picture of an alternative government when there are "sharp differences" between the parties. In response, a Sinn Féin source acknowledged that smaller parties are always worried about being carved up by larger ones. Presidential election a looming test of cohesion A looming test of cohesion is the bid for the combined left to nominate a joint candidate for the presidency. Smaller parties see this as a crucial decision point for Sinn Féin as it has the numbers to select its own person if it wishes. Some Sinn Féin TDs have privately suggested the party should not run its own candidate as they believe the position is not winnable for one of its politicians But another source said that fielding a party person would present the opportunity to "frame the debate", particularly on its core issue of a united Ireland. Although they add that they are aware there would be "consequences" if the party did badly. And it is not all harmony. A Labour source said he has picked up some disquiet from individuals who could run as a civil society candidate but who do not wish to be jointly nominated by Sinn Féin. Overall, there are mixed views as to how long the combined opposition will last. One source said they could not predict what would happen in a year, but it would continue for now. Another contends that disharmony will be rife as it gets closer to election time. For now though, many of the Opposition parties feel it is a useful device to combine strengths and make a bigger impact.
The Irish Sun
15-06-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Law is being broken & leaving our children permanently damaged, warns teen campaigner on autism diagnosis delays
AT JUST 14 years old, Cara Darmody has already met three different taoisigh, addressed a Dail committee and won the support of thousands as she campaigns for better autism services. Last month, the youngster spent 50 hours camped outside the gates of Leinster House as she demands the 4 Cara Darmody claims that Micheal Martin is breaking the law Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved 4 She has two brothers, Neil and John, who have severe and profound intellectual disabilities Credit: Social Media Collect 4 Cara said Micheal Martin wouldn't declare this as a national emergency despite the evidence Credit: AFP or licensors Under our current At the moment, there are 15,000 Here, brave campaigner Cara Darmody tells our readers about the motivation behind her campaign and inside her talks with successive taoisigh that have left her furious. LET'S cut straight to the chase - I'm here today to call out the blatant Assessments of Needs law-breaking by the Taoiseach and the Government. READ MORE IN NEWS Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have failed. I'm the 14-year-old Let me explain how the Government is breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005 states that an Assessment of Need must be carried out on an That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. Most read in The Irish Sun It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that permanent damage is caused to children with disabilities. My own story is very simple – while I'm not autistic, I have two brothers, Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are and who have severe and profound Playing with dolls can help your child's social development – even if they have autism, study finds They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services; Neil remains in an inappropriate I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to thousands of autistic children in the future. And this law-breaking by the Government isn't like parking on double yellow lines, where people can simply drive around you. This is law-breaking that causes permanent damage to autistic children. 'LEFT TO ROT' Let's look at what's happening in In County There are presently more than 15,000 children left to rot on Shockingly, the HSE revealed that the figure will go up to 25,000 by The Cabinet is breaking the law, the Taoiseach is breaking the law. I get it that they don't want to hear that kind of criticism, but it's the truth – they are law- breakers when it comes to Assessments of Needs. It's a sad indictment on our country that if someone asked me to find a location in Ireland where 100 per cent of the people present are breaking a law of some type, then I would go to the Taoiseach's Department on a Tuesday for the Cabinet meeting. Three weeks ago, I was so grateful to be invited to meet our Taoiseach, But I was shocked that he wouldn't declare this as a national emergency. He's breaking the law, and the HSE has now handed him evidence that this crisis is totally out of control, with figures to rise by 10,000 children over the next seven months. How many does that number have to reach before he declares this as a national emergency? 30,000? 40,000? 50,000? 'TECHNICAL BREACH OF LAW' So let's look at the Taoiseach's own words – he says that they're 'not in a position to uphold the law.' He also said that 'It's a technical breach of the law.' Well, I have news for him - this is not a technical breach of the law, it's total and utter blatant law-breaking. My message to the Taoiseach today is very simple – immediately declare this as a national emergency, set up a task force to knock on every private psychologist and Finally…. Taoiseach, Stop breaking the law. 4 The children on the Assessment of Needs waiting lists are 'left to rot' as the figures increase Credit: Getty Images - Getty
