Tipp’s Cara (12) to meet Taoiseach
A 12-YEAR-OLD girl from County Tipperary is on course to sit the Leaving Certificate Maths exam in a bid to raise awareness and funds for autistic children.
And now the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is so impressed with the move by the girl that he has agreed to meet her and her family.
Cara Darmody will sit the exam six years ahead of time as part of her campaign to draw attention to the 20,000 people awaiting autism assessments in Ireland.
Fundraisers established by Cara have already raised more than €70,000 in the past year to assist families of autistic children.
Cara, from Ardfinnan, is not autistic but has two autistic brothers, Neil (10) and John (5), who are both non-verbal.
Cara has been a constant advocate for them as well as the thousands of others suffering due to a lack of services.
Cara sat the Junior Cert Maths exam in 2022 at the age of 11 and scored 97pc – a result she was presented with live on the Late Late Show by Ryan Tubridy.
KELLY ANNOUNCEMENT
And in a statement issued this week local Labour Party TD Alan Kelly said that following on from his party’s motion last week in the Dáil on autism, that forced a change in policy from Minister Anne Rabbitte, Cara’s family, led by Cara herself, sought a meeting with the Taoiseach to ensure that the changes they seek will be followed through on.
Deputy Kelly said Cara was adamant that she wanted to meet the Taoiseach.
“As a result I asked the Taoiseach to meet with the Darmody’s and he has confirmed to me that he will indeed meet Cara and the Darmody family in the coming weeks.”
Deputy Kelly added: “I’m delighted that this is happening. This comes after I highlighted the precedent that was set by Cara’s brother Neil getting his private assessment of needs paid for by the HSE yet other families were being treated differently. Minister Rabbitte acknowledged that this was an issue and said that if plans for six regional centres are not up and running by August 1 then she will look for all assessment of needs that are taking longer than three months to be paid for by the State.”