Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----for many families, particularly to the children who require surgery and treatment in a timely manner. This is being prioritised in the Government. It has been prioritised. Funding is not an issue from the Government's perspective. Additional staff have been recruited. As Deputy O'Donoghue knows, there have been issues in respect of some aspects of it over the past two years. There has been a significant increase in the number of paediatric spinal procedures carried out in 2022 and 2023. I will not go through all the figures because as far as I am concerned it is not enough until every child is enabled to have an operation when it is prescribed by the clinicians that this is the time the child needs the operation. That is when the child should get the operation.

This is why I have been a strong supporter of outsourcing if capacity does not exist in the national system. It has been increased, and this has to be said. It has been increased and funding has been provided and more operations and procedures are being done but, in my view, the waiting times are still too long for children. Where possible, we should facilitate children getting their surgery done in a timely manner. The HSE is engaging with Children's Health Ireland which is responsible for this, along with the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh, the Blackrock Clinic and the National Treatment Purchase Fund, to co-ordinate national outsourcing opportunities for spinal and non-spinal orthopaedic work, to ensure maximum capacity for complex spinal surgeries in CHI.

An arrangement with Morgan Stanley children's hospital in New York has been finalised. Consultants from New York have travelled to Ireland to see patients at a clinic in Dublin. Following a clinic held in Dublin with surgeons from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, a cohort of patients has been offered treatment abroad and this is in progress. An arrangement has also been finalised with Portland Hospital in the United Kingdom. Families will be supported in accessing these pathways if it is the right option for their children. This will include travel, flights, accommodation, transport and a subsistence rate for expenses.

Ideally we would want all children to be done in this country, but timely intervention is key for the child. This is my personal view. When I was Minister with responsibility for health in 2002 and 2003 we sent 100 children to Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States because we were building new theatres in Crumlin. Our consultants here led that. It worked effectively at the time. In my view what should guide this are the needs of the child and timely interventions. I have discussed this with the Minister for Health. As we increase national capacity and eliminate the waiting times, when we can get good arrangements in Great Ormond Street Hospital and elsewhere, we should pursue them.

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