Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this issue. It is very important and I am pleased that we are raising it in this House. Nobody in the House wants to see any child wait in pain. Any suggestion from the Deputy that she does not but that I am somehow or other satisfied with children being left in pain is obviously not a fair portrayal of me or of any public representative in this House. This is not an issue that divides political opinion. I assure her that, if she was in my role, she would be doing what I am doing, which is to meet the clinical lead and the head of the HSE to work through the issues with them. If she wishes, I will arrange for the Deputy to meet with the clinician in charge of this programme for scoliosis because, while I am very happy to address the issue on the floor of the House, I often find it difficult to discuss children's individual clinical care plans here. I believe the Deputy would have difficulty with me doing so because there is a role for politicians and there is a role for clinicians. That is an important thing to say.

I will be really clear at the outset. Let us not be disingenuous. The Deputy has been at Leaders' Questions a hell of a lot longer than I have been and she will know that the HSE budget is detailed in a service plan. She knows that is where the line-by-line detail is found. If she wishes, she can choose to use her time to suggest that Government does not care about an issue. That is fine. Perhaps it is even her job. It is not accurate, however. The HSE will now work through the level of funding it has received from the Government with the Minister for Health and will produce the detailed HSE service plan. That is how it has worked every year the Deputy has been in this House. It is how it will work this year as well. Let me be very clear; the agreement that the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Donnelly, received for health this year is very significant. It brings the total health budget to €25.6 billion. It means that health spending has doubled over the last decade and that staffing will have increased by 30%. It also means that there will be a real opportunity to make progress on all waiting lists, as we have been doing in recent years.

It also means that there will be further ability to invest more in paediatric spinal waiting lists. The Minister has told families, doctors, the HSE and this House that any resources required by the dedicated spinal unit he has established will be provided, and I fully support him on that. That has been the case up to now. I have met with the Minister, the CEO of the HSE and the clinical lead of the dedicated spinal unit. This is now being led by a clinical lead, Mr. David Moore. I have also met with their teams and I know that every possible avenue and resource is being put to use.

The Minister is now chairing a monthly meeting with the HSE and Children's Health Ireland on the waiting times and ensuring everything can be done. A paediatric spinal task force has been established with an independent chair, Mark Connaughton SC. We are committing significant additional investment to help to tackle waiting lists and ease the burden. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of paediatric spinal procedures carried out in 2022 and 2023. So far this year, more than 300 spinal procedures have taken place. It is important to acknowledge that. For every child the Deputy names, and she is absolutely right to highlight them, there are children getting these operations at a scale and a pace that was not the case in years gone by. As she knows, additional funding of €1.34 million was allocated when the new clinical lead requested it, and anything the new clinical lead requests will be provided for in the HSE's budget for the time ahead.

The Deputy raises a very important, specific issue and I welcome her raising it. I agree with her in relation to the difference between economy and business class and ensuring that Darragh or anybody travelling has the space to travel safely and appropriately. An arrangement with Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in New York has been finalised. Consultants from New York have travelled to this country to see patients at a clinic in Dublin. Following a clinic held in Dublin with surgeons from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, a group of patients has also been offered treatment abroad and this is now in progress. An arrangement is also being finalised with the Portland Hospital in the UK. I am assured families will be fully supported in accessing these pathways if it is the right option for their children. A support package will be put in place to support them in travelling, including flights, accommodation, transport and travel insurance for all those in the travelling party. Quite rightly, a subsistence rate for expenses will be provided as well. I am assured that two of the flights for any family travelling will be business class. I am meeting scoliosis advocacy groups next week and I am very happy and eager to discuss all these matters.

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