Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 20 May 2025

Carheirleach, tonight the combined opposition have come together to call out the government's failure to comply with the law and to ensure children with disabilities get an assessment of needs within six months. This is not an arbitrary issue or an arbitrary time frame. It is very widely understood that the earlier the children are assessed and given the supports and therapies that they need, the better the chance for them to thrive and flourish. The government will not oppose our motion this evening, but yet their response to this issue of the course of today has been nothing short of shocking. Instead of setting out how they intend to comply with the law, they have now set out a clear intention to change the law. They have attempted to suggest that this is being done to streamline the delivery of services, to use capacity better to ensure that children get the services they are entitled to. But the sad reality is that if government removes or waters down the right to assessment of needs within six months, there will be serious and enduring consequences for vulnerable children. Removing the onus on the state to deliver comprehensive assessment of needs within a six-month statutory timeline will only benefit a state and a government that is failing in its duties. It will reward state failure. Last week, the Families of Autistic and Additional Needs Children Together, that is a group from the north-east inner city of Dublin, came to the Dáil to brief TDs on their experience and their peer-led research. I would recommend, Minister, that you and the Taoiseach should meet with these parents and listen very, very carefully to what they have to say. They told us that parents, carers and family members of children with autism and or additional needs are being failed by inadequate systems of support, that public services are often insufficient, unavailable, difficult to access, forcing many, many families, especially those on low incomes, into an impossible position. While some are able to turn to private services, this is not a viable option for many, reinforcing systemic inequality and denying children and their families the right to equitable care and support. One family summed it up this way when they said, As a parent, through our journey with our son, we can accept his diagnosis, what is required of us to care for him, and I will gladly do this as his mother. But experiences I have had with the HSE and services they fund to provide services has been hell. And even when they are trying to do what is right, they cannot deliver. However, no one, no one understands how bad things are, unless you have been through the disability services. Over the course of recent days, other parents locally talked about their experiences. Hayley said her son Parker was on the waiting list for assessment of needs for five years. And because Parker waited five years for his assessment, he never received the early intervention that is key for children with autism. And this is impacted directly on his development. Crystal said her son had been waiting two years for therapy. He still hasn't received any. Instead, she, like many mothers, is sent to courses and workshops so that she can act as his OT and speech and language therapist. Another mother talks of her experience of having to take the HSE to court to force them to do assessment of needs and said the aftermath was actually worse. Zero services provided. She says the whole system is broken. The solution for these families is not to remove or undermine their rights to assessment of need, but it is to provide the services they so desperately need in a timely fashion. Early intervention matters. This is a community already under pressure and, like many other parts of the state, the North Inner City CD&T is down five staff with capacity stretched beyond limits. This means that it is even more difficult for families to access services and no therapy is being offered. And the pressure continues when it comes to getting a suitable school place. With such a lack of SNAs in classrooms, I am dealing with it right across my own constituency, in St Catherine's, in Cabra, in Broome Bridge, Educate Together and many, many others. So, what we need is a step change from government. I would like, in my remaining time, to use the words of Cara Darmody, who joins us again in the Visitor's Gallery. And you have some stamina, Cara, and we are delighted that you are here with us again this evening with your father, Mark. So, here are some words that Cara sent to me this week, and I think she sets this out really well. She hits the nail on the head. Here is what she had to say. My name is Cara Darmody, and I think it is fair to say you are well aware of who I am, and the reasons why I feel absolutely compelled to start an unprecedented protest at the gates of Leinster House today. Put simply, the government through the HSE is systematically breaking the law, as there are now over 15,000 children waiting on an assessment of needs. But here is the shocker. The HSE have admitted through their own projections that the figure will reach almost 25,000 by Christmas. I have met most of the Cabinet at this point, wrote Cara, including a very kind meeting with Minister Norma Foley last Friday. On a personal level, I have enjoyed her company on every single occasion, and never once have I uttered an offensive comment towards any government politician. But then she says to the government, it is your ideology that is wrong here. You continue to act like this is a normal problem that can be solved in time. But it won't be. Permanent damage is being caused to children every day because of your failure to act with urgency and emergency. Minister, those are the words of Cara Darmody, heed them, please. It is time to act now with urgency, with emergency, comply with the law and ensure that no child is left behind.