Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When the Dáil resumed last week, a father, Mr. Aaron Daly, was waiting outside Government Buildings for the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, because he wanted to tell him about his lovely daughter Sophia who is waiting for scoliosis surgery. Notwithstanding that others took the time to talk to him, the Minister did not, which is disappointing.

Mr. Daly is one of a large number of parents dealing every day of the week with the broken promises that have been repeatedly made. There is a pattern emerging in that whenever there is an exposé in the media, such as "Living on the Lists", the Minister issues an apology and commits to ensuring things improve, and when there is no improvement and this generates further media interest, we get another apology. The scoliosis waiting lists are not being dealt with in any meaningful way, particularly for those children who have complex medical needs. More than 60 children with complex needs who have been on the waiting list for a long time have been moved to what is known as a "suspended list", in some cases because they have been on the list for so long their health has deteriorated to the point of them not being able to have the surgery.

The theatre in Crumlin children's hospital is not yet open five days a week. It should be open seven days a week but it is not yet open five days a week as promised. Children were also promised that they would be sent abroad for treatment. So far this year, only one child has received treatment abroad. Hundreds of children await this surgery and only one has been sent abroad to have it. This is not fair to them. I met Sophia McGuinness, who cannot speak but uses assistive technology to communicate. The first thing she said to me was, "I am in pain". She is in pain while she waits for surgery but she is not the only one. There are other children in pain while they wait for surgery. Their parents want to see real efforts to address their children's pain. People like Aaron Daly should not have to stand outside Government Buildings begging for a few minutes of the Minister's time.

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