Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I share her views on Spinraza. It is a matter that I and my colleagues in the previous Dáil campaigned hard for. As the Deputy spoke about a specific family, if she provides some more details, we can then get a briefing to her.

How we avoid knock-on impacts on our health system because of Covid is a profound and seminal question for healthcare this year. The impact of Covid in terms of waiting lists, the additional money that has to be spent and reduced capacity is unlike anything we have ever seen. It will have a knock-on effect. There is nothing anybody could do to prevent such an effect. We have to move very quickly. Much work is being done by the Department and the HSE on resumption of services and finding new capacity. We are going to have to innovate like we have never innovated before. Everything has to be on the table. We are going to have to bring everyone together.

If there is one thing that Covid showed us, even with a system already stretched beyond capacity, it is that our clinicians, our managers, departmental officials and everybody who works in the system reacted as one in a spectacular way. We need to keep that spirit of co-operation going to address the question the Deputy raised, which is the most significant question for healthcare now.

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