Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to speak about the human cost of not intervening. This is an intervention. I am aware of the case of a young woman who used to be a grade A student, but has had to miss 70 days of school in this academic year. At the age of 16, she is a user of the mental health services in Galway as a consequence of having spent three years languishing on a waiting list. I ask the Minister to ensure a national screening programme is introduced to enable us to intervene at an earlier juncture of somebody's life. If young people who are dealing with the scourge of scoliosis get the interventions they require, they will have an opportunity to live the most successful lives they can under these circumstances. Greater investment in taking people off waiting lists and getting them to Crumlin will be required to facilitate such interventions. The Minister referred to Crumlin, Cappagh and Blackrock, but I am talking about the case of a young woman in the west of Ireland. The Minister and I are both familiar with the case. This young woman, who used to be a grade A student, has collapsed while waiting for an intervention. It is completely unacceptable that HSE west has not made progress with this case to ensure she has an opportunity to live a successful and equal life like any other child of her age. She is not being given such an opportunity as a consequence of the mismanagement by HSE west.

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