Cork student pleas with Government to think of people with autism and disabilities in budget 

A Cork-based student has made an emotional plea to the Government to think of people with autism and disabilities and to deliver what is needed to improve services in this year’s budget.

Luna Fleming, 19, spoke during a protest in the city at the weekend, where activists and parents of children with disabilities and/or autism voiced their concerns about services.

They are calling on the Government to scrap the means test for disability payments and carers, to provide assessments of need within six months of application for all age groups, to provide therapists in schools and communities, and decent pay for all staff in the sector.

At the protest, Luna described the journey to being diagnosed with autism at the age of 17 as “exhausting”.

“I have since seen how being undiagnosed made my childhood 100 times harder than it needed to be and how still having received no services has sometimes made existing a living hell.”

Luna said they endured bullying simply for their behaviour and had been labelled difficult by teachers for taking longer at certain tasks.

“Thinking back, I feel so failed that no professional ever queried I may have been neurodivergent.”

Luna was critical of government spending.

“Let’s take just two incidents of excessive government spending, the €336,000 bike shed and €1.4m security hut. This amounts to roughly €1.8m.

The average salary of an occupational therapist is €56,000...The State could employ over 32 OTs with the money spent on these stupid, pointless expenses.”

Also speaking at the protest was Mark Darmody, father of 14-year-old disability rights campaigner Cara Darmody, from Tipperary.

Mr Darmody said that Cara is calling the situation an international embarrassment and said she will now take her fight to the EU and to the United Nations.

The protest was organised by Cork North Central People Before Profit Solidarity TD Mick Barry.

Addressing the crowd, he called for therapists to be put back in place at St Killian’s Special School, where he said there hasn’t been a therapist since 2019.

“There’s a lot of talk about groups making their asks for the budget: This is not an ask, this is a demand. There should be therapists in St Killian’s and therapists in all the other special schools right throughout the State and that should be provided for in the budget,” he said.

Rebecca O’Riordan, of the Families Unite for Services and Support, said a review of the whole system is needed.