Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I, too, want to formally send our very best wishes to Deputy Boyd Barrett.

I want to ask what kind of monitoring there is on the well-being of children, particularly disabled and vulnerable children, in our children’s hospitals. Will there be any accountability by successive Ministers for the fact that the HIQA report published today outlines how there was no written approval for springs that were used in children’s bodies yet there was a post-holder for new treatments; no engagement with the ethics committee; poor process and communication; lack of formal multidisciplinary structures; no formal safety checks; no purchase order number for the equipment; a deviation from decontamination procedures; and parents not fully informed of bespoke and experimental procedures? It is not only that but also the unnecessary hip operations that have been carried out on a number of children. Some 561 patients in Temple Street and Cappagh hospitals have been recommended to be recalled. Parents are asking for a statutory inquiry. Nothing less than that is needed. We cannot have another review. There are questions which the Taoiseach and the Ministers with responsibility for health must answer.

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