Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to meet the person who replied in that way. I will not give that reply to the parents of that 12-year-old child or a few others who have approached me about their children because, to be perfectly honest, this is an academic response. I seek a strategic response and do not simply wish to raise the issue of a single child. I have been approached by several parents whose children are seeking ear, nose and throat, ENT, appointments and I used one child to portray the predominant picture. The Minister of State informed me that a certain number are waiting less than six months and 75% are waiting less than 12 months. However, I read out a letter to him and informed him this child has been told by Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, to go somewhere else because it has a two-year waiting list for an ENT appointment. There is no point in telling me about the special delivery unit or the National Treatment Purchase Fund because, essentially, this child cannot even be seen in order to get onto a list. Can the Minister of State express my dissatisfaction to the Minister with regard to this response, which really does not address the issue at all with regard to ENT? There is a crisis here for youngsters who cannot get even an appointment and cannot get a fairly minor procedure that would give them a better quality of life, such as having their tonsils removed. I have to hand a letter from Crumlin hospital stating the child cannot get even an appointment because there is a two-year waiting list and telling the general practitioner to find another hospital that might put the child on its list. This simply is not acceptable and that response is just Civil Service-speak, because it does not match the reality of the topic on which I have asked this question. I am deeply unhappy with the response. I will forward to the Minister for Health the letter that was sent to the parent because it outlines very well the deficiency.

See this speech in context