Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Today, 13-year-old Cara Darmody will hold a protest outside the Dáil again. Cara is protesting for improved autism services and for the Government to live up to its promises to disabled people and their families. She has first-hand experience of the difficulties endured by people with disabilities. Her two younger brothers, Neil and John, are autistic and she and her family have had to fight for every single service they have ever received. So many families have to fight and witness nothing but broken promises and threadbare supports from a State that simply does not prioritise them.

Cara has been lobbying Ministers and HSE officials for years now. She met the then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, in 2022 and the then Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, in 2023. Tomorrow, she will meet the Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris. Speaking to the Irish Examiner yesterday, Cara said "Soundbites and promises are all well and good but families desperately need action, and that's not just action for a lucky percentage, but action for all."

We probably could not count the number of disability protests we have seen outside the Dáil or the number of people who come before the disability matters committee, week after week, to explain how the absence of services is ruining their lives. We cannot count the number of reports we have had on the failures of service provision. The rhetoric from the Government never seems to match reality. Week after week, various Taoisigh have stood in this House and spoken about how focused they are on disability services and disability rights and how much they care about disabled people's right to live independently. Then another report lands, showing us again that these words were never backed up with action, and a new Taoiseach lands and sets up a new committee, meets more campaigners and makes more promises. There have been enough reports, committees, protests and promises. Cara should be at home, attending school and enjoying time with her friends and family. She and others should not have to fight for basic services, feeling there is no other option but to mount a protest.

At the end of last year, almost 9,000 children with disabilities were overdue an assessment of need. Not one of the children's disability network teams in the country is fully staffed. So many children are being denied an appropriate school place. That is not to mention the failure of respite services, pay parity for section 39 workers, and the list goes on.

Will the Minister tell me how many children are now waiting for an assessment of needs? How many of them have been waiting for more than three months? What is the Taoiseach going to tell Cara tomorrow that is any different from what the two previous Taoisigh have said to her before?

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