Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Medical experiments were conducted on children in our major paediatric hospital. Corrosive springs were inserted into the bodies of extremely vulnerable children. No ethical approval was sought for the use of the springs and the families did not give informed consent for these procedures. This was not an isolated incident. The litany of failures raises serious questions about whether Children's Health Ireland is fit for purpose.

Despite this, yesterday in this Chamber, the Taoiseach ruled out a public inquiry into the enormous governance failures at Children's Health Ireland. The Taoiseach said previously that all the recommendations of the HIQA report will be implemented but families have heard that before. In 2013, a report into services for children with spina bifida found major deficits and a lack of co-ordination at national and local level. The recommendations from that report were not implemented. In 2017, a damning report from the Ombudsman for Children found serious and ongoing violations of the rights of children waiting for scoliosis treatment. In response, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, promised that no child with scoliosis would wait longer than four months for surgery. That promise was never kept. In 2023, the Ombudsman for Children published the Ivy report into the care of a child with scoliosis by Children's Health Ireland. That report found numerous failures of governance and communication within Children's Health Ireland. In 2024, a follow-up report to the Ivy report revealed that surgery was delayed for Ivy for so long that she was no longer operable. The latest damning report into Children's Health Ireland cannot be viewed in isolation. In fact, we know that two more reports into care at Children's Health Ireland are on the way, one of which will detail that potentially hundreds of children had unnecessary hip surgeries. Can one imagine the devastation felt by parents upon learning that their child has been put through traumatic surgery that was never needed?

The extent of the crisis at Children's Health Ireland and its implications for the care of children in Ireland are enormous. Last night, Úna Keightley from the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group said she had written to the Minister for Health three weeks ago but had yet to receive a response. Will the Minister meet with Úna Keightley and advocacy groups? Given the crisis at Children's Health Ireland, does the Taoiseach believe that ruling out a public inquiry into this scandal was too rash?

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