Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to highlight to the Taoiseach the absolute failure of this country to look after the health needs of children. I will do this by giving an example of a case that proves the dysfunction in our system. Michael O'Sullivan of Dromroughty, Kenmare, County Kerry is a ten-year-old boy who is profoundly autistic and has a working diagnosis of alpha thalassemia X-linked intellectual disability, ATR-X, syndrome, which is rare. He has two loving parents in Jean and Teddy who care for him and go above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis to care for their young son who is being failed by the health service in this country.

In 2019, at the age of eight, Michael suffered from a perforated bowel. Prior to this he had been waiting to see the gastro team in Crumlin hospital. It is no exaggeration to say that the perforation in his bowel when taken to University Hospital Kerry, UHK, that night almost killed young Michael. When suggested that he be airlifted to Dublin from UHK, a consultant said, "He won't make it in the air". That is how serious the matter was. Michael spent a total of 13 weeks in hospital following this. Following his stay in hospital, he continued to have serious issues with bowel movements, to the point where he now cannot have a bowel movement without the assistance of several doses of laxatives on a daily basis. For anyone who has experienced the discomfort of constipation and the pain it can cause, he or she can imagine facing this pain as a ten-year-old little boy on a daily basis.

Michael had to wait until January 2021 before meeting the gastro team in Dublin again. He met with them for half an hour and was prescribed medication that did not work. All subsequent appointments were done by phone rather than face to face. In October 2021, Michael spent a further two weeks in hospital where they were told they again would need to see the gastro team. Roll on to October 2022 and Michael was finally to see the team in Dublin. The appointment was cancelled and rescheduled for a few days later, but that dreaded call came from Dublin to say the appointment was cancelled. Michael, Jean and Teddy are still awaiting to get a call back with a rescheduled appointment.

The Taoiseach can stand up, blame Covid and talk about how much money the Government has spent on healthcare, how much capacity it has added and how winter has an impact on the system. Winter comes every year and the Government has done nothing to help Michael and, importantly, other children like him who, on a daily basis, are let down and left to suffer. I ask the Taoiseach to deal with this. The HSE is broken beyond repair.

Michael is suffering. He is crippled in pain every day. He cannot have bowel movements without laxatives and, worse again, he cannot get help. Why do we only have one gastro team for children in Ireland? Why do we not have one in Cork that could do appointments in UHK once a month? As Jean said, "Everyone is going the same direction up to Dublin - a never-ending bottleneck of people trying to access the one service, where you could be in Cashel and told your appointment is cancelled yet again".

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