David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I met parents of children with scoliosis on Zoom today and many of them said to me that their children have been left with lifelong complications because of the delays to their care. They also said they have seen this before and heard all the promises but that they have not seen the improvements. They said that we should aspire to do better for our children and to have a health service that does not have their children in those circumstances.

I accept the Minister's point that it is unacceptable but the Minister's predecessor and his predecessor sat there and said the same thing and the problem has not improved. The parents said to me that even the communication with them is not what it should be. They say that surgeons do not have access to theatre capacity and that there are no protected beds, for example. They say that because it is elective surgery the operations can be cancelled at the drop of a hat, which causes huge distress for families. What can the Minister and the system do practically to improve this? We have heard it all before and the problem has not improved.

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