Teenage activist begins third sleepout at Dáil over special needs assessments
A teenage disability activist has begun her third 50-hour protest outside Leinster House over the delay families face in accessing assessments of need (AONs) for children.
Cara Darmody, 15, was greeted by politicians, including Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, as she began her demonstration outside Leinster House on Tuesday.
Cara said her latest protest was sparked by the growing list of children waiting for an AON.
She said the first time she held a sleepout protest, last May, there were 15,000 children waiting for an AON while now the number of children waiting is at 21,792.
“The government are systematically breaking the assessment of needs law by not assessing children within six months of their application for that assessment, and that is a serious problem,” she told the Press Association.
“I want them to set up an international recruitment campaign to get the psychologists needed to get the services and to eradicate those 22,000 kids waiting on that waiting list...
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