Cara Darmody’s advocacy and lobbying for better services for children with disabilities had been recognised with a Garda Youth Award.
The National Garda Youth Awards recognise exceptional young people aged 13-21 who have positively contributed to their community.
Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris presented a total of 24 awards in Portlaoise on Saturday.
Ms Darmody, from Ardfinnan, has raised over €75,000 by sitting the Junior and Leaving Certificate Maths Examinations and through intensive lobbying of the Government secured additional funding to help reduce the waiting lists for Assessment of Need services for children with disability – Cara’s two brothers have intellectual disabilities.
The funds donated were used for autism services in Ardfinnan National School and Scoil Chormaic Special School, which her brothers Neil and John both attend.
The Government allocated €6.89 million to deal with the long backlogs of Assessments of Needs for autistic children and the Taoiseach Simon Harris has informed Cara that “Funding of €10M has been allocated in Budget 2025” to pay for assessments to be completed.
1,092 AONs (Assessments of Needs) were commissioned from private providers during the months of June, July and August this year.
Under the law no child should be waiting longer than 6 months for the assessment which helps to determine what therapies are beneficial to the child’s health and development.
Ms Darmody is campaigning to ensure that there are no delays in the assessments or in accessing the recommended therapies.
