Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Petition No. 1 of 2023 from Mr. Mark Darmody on behalf of his daughter, Miss Cara Darmody, concerns seeking immediate financial relief for autistic children whose families are paying privately for assessments and therapies; the petitioner seeks proper oversight and an external complaints system for the HSE and a full review of carer's allowance and how carers are viewed. The petitioner advises the petition has three aspects to it, all of them connected. The first aspect is that more than 18,000 children are waiting long periods for autistic assessment on HSE waiting lists. It is accepted it is the State's responsibility, through the HSE, to pay for those assessments. However, because the State is failing in its responsibilities by not assessing in a timely manner, parents are forced to pay privately for those critical assessments. Additionally, parents are also forced to pay privately when the State fails to provide therapy services such as speech and language therapy, SLT, occupational therapy, OT, psychology, etc. Mr. Darmody advises no parent should have to finance such services or assessments and that a mechanism must be immediately introduced to ensure that no parent bears the cost for the State's failure to provide services. The second aspect of the petition seeks an external complaints mechanism for the HSE, as well as a health oversight authority similar to the present Garda policing model. Parents across the country believe the HSE is not accountable for its actions as it investigates itself. Mr. Darmody contends the Ombudsman for Children does not have the investigative powers to properly oversee the HSE. The third aspect of the petition is about how having disabled children leads to a parent to becoming a carer. The petitioner seeks for a full review of the position of carers.

The petitions case manager corresponded with Mr. John McKeon, Secretary General at the Department of Social Protection, on 2 March and received a reply on 9 March setting out the Department's position on this matter. This correspondence was forwarded to the petitioner and Mr. Darmody replied on 5 April 2023. The secretariat also corresponded with Mr. Leo Bollins, clerk to the Joint Committee on Autism, on 20 February 2023 with regards to this petition and received a reply on 13 April 2023. The Joint Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen at its meeting of 30 March 2023 discussed some issues arising from this petition, namely the cross-Border directive and the Northern Ireland planned healthcare scheme. The secretariat corresponded with the HSE on 6 April 2023 and the HSE responded on 21 April 2023. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has advised the issues raised in this petition do not fall within its remit. The committee recommends the correspondence from the HSE be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Do members have any views on that?