Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to congratulate the Leader on her wedding. I congratulate Jarlath and Louis as well and both families. I compliment Senator Keogan on hosting an event in the audiovisual room today with a young girl who is from my parish, Cara Darmody. She is fighting for services for her two younger brothers, Neil and John, who both have severe autism. They are calling for three things in respect of early intervention. They as a family have seen first-hand what early intervention does. Of their two boys, one had early intervention and one did not and it is very clear to see how one has progressed while one has not progressed as quickly as possible. They know first-hand what early intervention does. The first thing they are calling for is access to early intervention. The Government and the HSE cannot provide early intervention for the 18,000 children who need it. They have to get it privately which means they have to pay for it themselves. The ask the Darmodys are making is that the HSE pay the bill for people who have to get services privately. The only reason they have to go private is that the HSE cannot provide the service it has promised to provide.

The second call is for accountability in the HSE. There is a feeling from people who work in autism that there is no accountability in the HSE service. The third is for an increase in the payment to family carers. At the moment a person gets about €1.40 an hour. Cara's mother, Noelle, has a degree and a PhD. She is fully qualified but had to give up her profession to care for Neil and John. That needs to be recognised. There are people in this country, particularly women, who have to give up careers to care for loved ones long term. The State needs to support them. I commend Senator Keogan and Cara and Mark for the presentation today.