Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The difficulty is the Taoiseach has not done everything he can to resolve this situation. Harvey's parents, Steven and Gillian, are in the Public Gallery. They should not be here. They very fact that parents of children with scoliosis and spina bifida have to come to the Dáil in this way is a testament to failure in and of itself because their child is running out of time. That is the reality. It is not the Taoiseach's child. It is not mine either. He is Gillian's and Steven's child. He is eight years old and he is deteriorating rapidly. He needs and deserves the operation and care that he is entitled to. It strikes me, and I am alarmed by it, frankly, that the Taoiseach is going through the motions here. He is reciting the thing he recites and has recited time and again when we have raised the issue of these very complex cases that can no longer be left on the never never because time is running out. I want the Taoiseach to make a commitment, not to me, but to the parents of Harvey, Gillian and Steven. They are a young couple in the Public Gallery. I want you to tell them that their child will get the operation he needs. I want you to tell him that the wait, the stonewalling, the prevarication, the spin and soundbites will end and that action will now be taken.

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