James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

The Finance Bill is due to be introduced in the near future. As Members are aware, 150 people, including a little girl named Joy, are awaiting heart surgery in Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin. Some 25 of these individuals have missed their opportunity to obtain optimum outcomes. Will a provision be included in the Finance Bill to set aside the €10 million necessary to build a modular unit, which would ensure that an intensive care unit, ICU, could be put in place in order to allow the waiting list to which I refer to be addressed? The longer this matter goes on, the more children will be affected. In addition, the outcomes for those children will be adversely affected.

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