Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this really powerful motion. It gives all of us an opportunity to once again discuss this terrible situation with paediatric, orthopaedic and urology services. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for being here. The senior Minister is not here, but I listened to what he had to say earlier. Despite the fact he was talking about all his reviews and all his efforts, it remains true that 78% of children are waiting longer than the Sláintecare target time for a paediatric orthopaedic inpatient appointment for CHI and 81% are waiting longer than the target time for paediatric urology, so the fact of the matter is his efforts are not bearing fruit.

I welcome all the families who came to Leinster House today. I am sure some of them are still here in the Gallery. As with all the rest of the TDs here, the hardest thing we have to do is go out and meet people who are sick and their advocates and people who are waiting and waiting for healthcare. To have to meet those people either outside or inside Leinster House is such a difficult thing to do, and that is just for us. Can we imagine how difficult it is for all those people who travelled from different parts of the country to stand outside their national Parliament on a pretty cool February afternoon? I met a mother from Donegal whose daughter was with her in a wheelchair. She is waiting over five years for surgery. She tells me she has lost lung capacity. Her curvature is 138° and her skin is broken by her bones. When a mother says that to you and you can see that little girl in front of you, you just do not know what to say because it is just so heart-breaking, yet parents talk about one disappointment after another. That mother told me her daughter has had two pre-ops and two cancellations because of no beds, no theatre or no staff. Right now she has been told it will be four to six weeks, but as she said to me she will not believe it until it happens. The sadness in that woman’s eyes and the hopelessness I could see around me was just very difficult for all those people here.

Even when we speak to people who are very ill, there is still always hope that if they can access proper healthcare things will improve, but today I chatted to a young man in a wheelchair and asked him to tell me his story. I had no idea who he was. He told me it was too late for him. He said he waited and waited and waited and finally when he was getting his surgery the surgeon told him nothing could be done. His condition is beyond medical intervention. When we get to that point it is no wonder one TD after another is standing up in this House complaining strongly and vociferously about a service that is failing young people and their families.

I did not have to go outside Leinster House because I get many emails and phone calls from people in my constituency who are waiting and waiting for surgery and physiotherapy. I am dealing with one family whose daughter is on a waiting list. She is hopeful it will be four to six weeks, but under no circumstances do I want to get an email in four or six weeks’ time from the mother telling me the surgery did not take place because she has had one delay after another. She also has serious questions about the physiotherapy services that are being provided. They are totally inadequate. Her daughter is supposed to be seen every four weeks, but it often runs to eight weeks. She said the CDNT service is not working. I have another family who have a little girl. She is on a waiting list since she was 18 months old and she is now six and a half. It is no wonder all of us here strongly support this motion. We ask the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to do something about it and help these people.

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