Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This morning, telephone calls were made all over Ireland to cancel surgery for men, women and children. These calls are being made every morning. On budget day alone, all surgical appointments in University Hospital Limerick were cancelled; half of surgeries in certain specialties in University Hospital Galway were cancelled; in the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital all elective admissions were cancelled except for cancer patients; four of the 13 operating theatres in St. James's Hospital were closed; and 15 patients in Beaumont Hospital in need of urgent neurosurgical care were not transferred.

Today, thousands of parents are asking in desperation when their boys and girls will get help. In some counties, children with special needs have to wait three and a half years to see therapists.

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