Tipperary teen wants to show government there are solutions to Ireland's disability crisis
Cara Darmody from Ardfinnan will brief Leinster House tomorrow about hiring more private psychologists to help reduce assessment waiting lists in the country.
A Tipperary teenager will brief politicians in Leinster House tomorrow, about finding a solution to Ireland's long waiting lists for assessments for people with disabilities.
Campaigner Cara Darmody, who is 14 years old, recently met with HSE CEO Bernard Gloster in Limerick last week.
Following this important meeting, the teenager from Ardfinnan was invited to brief politicians at Leinster house's AV room tomorrow (July 8) at 12PM.
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Cara has been asked to brief those in government and report on her meeting last Tuesday with HSE CEO Bernard Gloster.
Cara says that at her meeting last week she presented HSE CEO Bernard Gloster with clear evidence that contradicts the Government's recent statements that Ireland does not have enough capacity in the system to perform AONs.
Commenting on this Cara says: "I will now fully brief all politicians in the AV room of Leinster House tomorrow at 12pm of the outcome & success of that meeting, and will issue a "call to action" for them to follow an important precedent that I set in that meeting.
"Mr. Gloster was "taken aback" when I brought to his desk the case of a Tipperary based psychologist who was fully vetted by the HSE and is doing AON Assessments for them.
"Localised HSE red tape was strangling the ability of her junior staff to perform AONs on their own without her direct supervision. She states that she could perform 250 additional AONs a year if unnecessary shackles were removed from her.
"She could have eradicated the 241 AONs on the waiting list in Tipperary. Mr. Gloster was also disturbed to hear that this same psychologist tendered for another HSE AON contract last October, but only received confirmation of her success eight months later.
"I questioned how in the middle of a national crisis that it could take 8 months to confirm a person already fully vetted. This psychologist claims, from her knowledge of the industry and of fellow professionals, that there are others like her out there, available to help if asked.
"I also brought to his desk the example of a British based company that has access to over 2300 therapists. I met their Commercial Director at my home and they are literally bursting to enter the Irish AON market.
"I am not here to push anyone's commercial interests, but this absolutely blows out of the water the myth that "there are no available therapists" to do the work.
"I totally accept that vetting these professionals could be tricky & cumbersome at times, but that is an entirely different argument to the one of "no therapists" being available. So I directly challenged the "no therapists available" statement with Mr. Gloster.
"As a result of the conversations, he will now launch a brand new recruitment drive for psychologists & therapists for AONs, a campaign that will be advertised in the national media as opposed to an obscure E-Tenders website that very few ever look at.
"That campaign will be launched in around seven weeks time, with a short window of around 6 weeks before he closes it off. So we will know by the end of October of the success or failure of that campaign. He has given an undertaking that he will meet me at the end of October to fully brief me on that outcome. And if it fails, he will then give consideration to an international recruitment campaign," said Cara.
In the meantime, Cara says she will be issuing a "call to action" tomorrow of all politicians.
"I have set a very important precedent by bringing the Tipperary psychologist's practice to his desk for vetting consideration, which his office will now examine. Mr. Gloster was clear was that he would emphatically welcome ANY psychologist brought to his desk for consideration for AON use.
"So, my intention is to ask politicians, of all parties, to seek out psychologists in their communities that are willing to help in this AON national crisis, and to bring them to Mr. Gloster's desk for vetting consideration.
"The HSE have projected that the waiting list figures will go from 15,000 to 25,000 by Christmas. That must not be allowed to happen. If a 14 year old like me can find available psychologists, then why can't the Government do that with all of their resources. That's the question that now needs to be asked," she concluded.