Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

When is this Government going to stop failing children with disabilities? Next Tuesday, Cara Darmody, a teenage disability rights campaigner from Ardfinnan in my constituency, will start a 50-hour sleep-out in pursuit of urgent and immediate action to secure assessments of need for children with additional needs within the six-month legal limit. There are over 14,000 children on the waiting list. To be precise, the actual number is 14,221. Some 90% of these have been waiting for well in excess of the six-month legal limit. The majority have been waiting for more than two years. Last year, the total number seen was 4,162. This means that people are spending three and a half years on the waiting list.

At my request, the Joint Committee on Disability Matters this morning agreed to invite Cara to address it. I understand that she has requested a meeting with the Minister. I ask the Minister to confirm that she will meet Cara as soon as possible.

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