‘Up against a brick wall’

Two determined Cavan mothers are preparing to protest outside the HSE offices in Cavan Town - alone if they must - until action is taken to address systemic failings in the provision of disability services for children in the county.

Serena Dawson and Rachel Kearns are leading the call for change, having first met when their children were attending early intervention. What started as a casual conversation quickly revealed a shared experience: endless waiting lists, persistent frustration, and growing anger over what they perceive as a deeply unfair system.

The peaceful protest is scheduled to take place outside the new Cavan Primary Care Children’s Services Centre on Main Street at 10am on August 12. Protesters are encouraged to bring signs, determination, and what the flyer calls a 'hope for change'.

“Let’s make sure the HSE can’t ignore us any more!” it urges.

Serena is a mother to three boys under the age of seven, each with varying levels of additional needs. As a result, she has been battling the Irish healthcare system for years.

Her youngest son, Dara (3), is autistic and non-verbal. Cody (5) has been with primary care services but has sat on a three-year waiting list for both speech and language therapy and occupational therapy.

Nathan (7), her eldest, is autistic and has an intellectual disability. He was recently denied an ADHD assessment by CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) pending an evaluation by the Cavan Children’s Disability Network Team (CDNT), operated by Enable Ireland.

No waiting list

Official statements claim there’s “no waiting list” for CAMHS in Cavan - a line delivered in the Dáil recently by Minister of State Mary Butler. But according to Serena, many parents report that CAMHS has essentially stopped accepting referrals altogether.

“It’s easy to have no waiting list when you’re not taking anyone on,” she fumes.

Rachel’s story is similar. Her sons Keelan (8) and Kaizer (5) are both autistic.

Keelan is pre-verbal and has the eating disorder Pica. He requires one-to-one support at school. But just weeks before the new term, there’s no suitable place available for him, with Cootehill’s Holy Family School at full capacity.

Keelan’s original Assessment of Need was also recently deemed to be incorrect, and this was challenged to the High Court, one of many encouraged by Monaghan-based Barry Healy Law.

The application never made it to the courtroom, with the HSE quickly reaching an agreement outside in June.

Still though there are issues with Keelan’s Service Statement. This is the subject of a separate complaint. Meanwhile, Kaizer hasn’t attended Enable Ireland’s early services unit at Rathcorrick in nearly two years.

Their stories, though personal, reflect a wider issue. Whether it’s the CDNT, CAMHS, or primary care, the recurring complaint is the same: services in Cavan are chronically under-resourced and overwhelmed.

“The buck has to stop somewhere,” says Serena. “That’s with the HSE. They’re funding these services, and it’s just not good enough. It hasn’t been good enough for a very long time. We’re not the first to say this. But something has to change and it has to change now.”

Both women serve as parent representatives on the HSE’s Family Forum, but this involvement hasn’t eased their frustrations. Together they cite repeated communication failures, inaccurate documentation, and a perceived disregard for the lived experiences of families.

Serena recalls once informing the CDNT that one of her sons couldn’t attend a scheduled course due to a school induction. Her absence was recorded as a voluntary withdrawal, with notes falsely claiming the family cancelled the morning of.

Rachel shares a similar issue. After attending a Lámh course- a communication system for non-verbal children- she found the training was incorrectly logged under her other son’s file, raising concerns about data protection and GDPR compliance.

“They’re always right, and it’s always the parents who are the problem. Always us somehow,” says Rachel.

This disconnect often escalates when families seek outside support.

“[The CDNT] are claiming Nathan had 44 interventions and Dara had 22,” Serena says.

“But all that’s happened is emails and phone calls. What sort of intervention is that?”

She questions the logic of creating care plans based on remote conversations.

“They're asking us over the phone for information and we're not qualified. What if we're missing something? But it makes us out to be liars that we're getting all this help and we aren't.”

The mental toll of this ongoing need advocacy is significant.

She speaks openly about “carer burnout”, saying it is more common than many parents will admit.

“So many are holding on by a thread, because they have to. A lot of them are mothers, because it’s usually the mother who stays at home while the father works. We do it because if we don’t, who will? The system is failing our children. We’re doing everything we can—knocking on doors, making calls, sending emails. But it feels like we’re getting nowhere. We’re constantly hitting a brick wall. It doesn’t seem to matter.”

The situation, Rachel says, “would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious”.

Keelan is currently going through what she describes as a “crisis period”. He hasn’t left the house in several months due to extreme sensory overload. His support plan includes strategies and “social stories” for the next 12 months- one of which suggests taking him swimming.

Rachel is beyond tears at this point. She's done crying.

Serena not so. She can’t hold back and wells up thinking about the uncertain future her children might face.

The cost of this battle isn’t only emotional, it’s financial too.

Both mothers estimate they've spent thousands of euros annually on private assessments and therapies just to plug the gaps in care.

Rachel has meticulously tracked her expenses: an ASD assessment cost €2,000; 18 months of occupational therapy ran over €2,000; and she expects to spend another €1,400 before the school year starts.

Serena has been forced to seek services north of the border, estimating her family will spend between five and six thousand pounds this year alone.

Both families have also taken out private health insurance- not for better care, but in hopes of scraping back their outlay.

“Another €500 for Cody’s dyspraxia assessment,” Serena shares. “We can’t even get public speech and language therapy covered right now.”

Both women believe Cavan is especially poorly served by comparison to other counties.

Enable Ireland’s CDNT in Cavan, operating under Section 39 funding, had a shocking 58% vacancy rate earlier this year. Just under 12 full-time equivalent staff were responsible for nearly 600 children.

In contrast, neighbouring Monaghan’s CDNT - run directly by the HSE - had a lower 39% vacancy rate and nearly 18 full-time staff, aided by more competitive pay.

The disparity, Rachel argues, creates a “postcode lottery”.

Local Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith condemned the delays as “totally unacceptable” and called for urgent recruitment across all therapeutic services.

“There is an urgent need to have successful recruitment campaigns,” he told the Celt, stressing the value of early intervention.

But Serena and Rachel say they’ve heard it all before. Now, they’re taking their message to the street and plan to remain outside the HSE offices for as long as it takes to be heard.

“We’re knocking on doors, making appointments, sending emails,” Serena says.

“But it feels like we’re always up against a brick wall. It doesn’t seem to matter what we say.”

Rachel echoes the sentiment: “The situation would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.”