(IRELAND) >15,000 children waiting for ASD dx; will go up to 25,000 by Christmas

June 15, 2025, Irish Sun: Law is being broken & leaving our children permanently damaged, warns teen campaigner on autism diagnosis delays

More than 15,000 children are on HSE Assessments of Needs waiting lists

AT JUST 14 years old, Cara Darmody has already met three different taoisigh, addressed a Dail committee and won the support of thousands as she campaigns for better autism services.

Last month, the youngster spent 50 hours camped outside the gates of Leinster House as she demands the Government end the lengthy waits for children to get Assessments of Need.

Under our current laws, the state is required to provide these to any child within six months of them being referred for checks.

At the moment, there are 15,000 children in need of assessments who have been waiting longer than legally mandated.

Here, brave campaigner Cara Darmody tells our readers about the motivation behind her campaign and inside her talks with successive taoisigh that have left her furious.

LET’S cut straight to the chase - I’m here today to call out the blatant Assessments of Needs law-breaking by the Taoiseach and the Government.

Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have failed.

I’m the 14-year-old disability rights campaigner who performed a 50-hour protest on the dirty street outside Leinster House three weeks ago, and I’m the campaigner who was credited by the previous taoiseach for the allocation of €10million of government funding to what he calls “Cara’s Fund”.

Let me explain how the Government is breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005 states that an Assessment of Need must be carried out on an autistic child within six months, full-stop.

That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key.

It’s also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn’t occur, that permanent damage is caused to children with disabilities.

My own story is very simple – while I’m not autistic, I have two brothers, Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are and who have severe and profound intellectual disabilities.

They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services; Neil remains in an inappropriate school place.

I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to thousands of autistic children in the future.

And this law-breaking by the Government isn’t like parking on double yellow lines, where people can simply drive around you.

This is law-breaking that causes permanent damage to autistic children.

'LEFT TO ROT'

Let’s look at what’s happening in Ireland right now – in 93 per cent of cases, children are assessed outside the six-month timeframe. So let’s call a spade a spade – the law is being systematically smashed by the Government.

In County Tipperary, where I’m from, the present waiting time is 48 months. This isn’t a close call.

There are presently more than 15,000 children left to rot on HSE Assessments of Needs waiting lists.

Shockingly, the HSE revealed that the figure will go up to 25,000 by Christmas. All because the Government is “asleep at the wheel” and acting in a “non-emergency” mode of action.

The Cabinet is breaking the law, the Taoiseach is breaking the law. I get it that they don’t want to hear that kind of criticism, but it’s the truth – they are law- breakers when it comes to Assessments of Needs.

It’s a sad indictment on our country that if someone asked me to find a location in Ireland where 100 per cent of the people present are breaking a law of some type, then I would go to the Taoiseach’s Department on a Tuesday for the Cabinet meeting.

Three weeks ago, I was so grateful to be invited to meet our Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, during my protest.

But I was shocked that he wouldn’t declare this as a national emergency.

He’s breaking the law, and the HSE has now handed him evidence that this crisis is totally out of control, with figures to rise by 10,000 children over the next seven months.

How many does that number have to reach before he declares this as a national emergency? 30,000? 40,000? 50,000?

'TECHNICAL BREACH OF LAW'

So let’s look at the Taoiseach’s own words – he says that they’re “not in a position to uphold the law.”

He also said that “It’s a technical breach of the law.”

Well, I have news for him - this is not a technical breach of the law, it’s total and utter blatant law-breaking.

My message to the Taoiseach today is very simple – immediately declare this as a national emergency, set up a task force to knock on every private psychologist and therapist’s door in Ireland with an emergency request for help, and finance “Cara’s Fund”.

Finally…. Taoiseach, Stop breaking the law.