Ms Cara Darmody:

I already mentioned at the end of my speech multiple things that I want them to do. I am glad to be able to speak in front of the committee. That is the first step - to be able to get my message out here. That is very important to me.

There are a couple of things that I have told the Ministers and the TDs that I want them to do. I will read those out for the Senator. The first thing I am asking for is for the Government to declare this as a national emergency for children. Obviously, I know that speaking in front of this committee will being a lot of awareness to that. I will keep on fighting until I get what I want. The Government needs to treat this like the house is on fire. By speaking in front of this committee, it is another opportunity for me to be able to get my message out there that this is a national crisis and it needs to be treated. The second thing I am asking for is to allocate immediate and additional funding to Cara's fund because that is the ultimate blueprint to success, given that Simon Harris directly credited me with €10 million worth of Government funding previously. In light of the fact that recruitment and potential changes to the law are often cited as big barriers, I am thirdly asking for the creation of a task force to examine and remove any possible obstacles that exist. That is a very important one because the Government is making excuses for everything and that needs to stop. The final thing I am asking for is for a very specific financial allocation to be made towards the backlog of services, such as SLT, physio or OT, similar to the October 2024 allocation of €10 million given to Cara's fund. That is very important. By speaking in front of this committee, I will get the message out here today that those are my asks, and they will be my asks until I get what I want. I will not be going away any time soon because, right now, children in this country are being permanently damaged and that needs to change.