Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government is not a spectator here. This issue was brought to attention in September 2023. The Department of Health was notified the year after and a subsequent review is taking place and is at an advanced stage. The number of people who have been contacted is increasing. There is further work under way, through an action plan that is currently being drafted, to try to identify any further groups that have not been included and should be included in this review. I agree with the Deputy - we all agree - that if any child has had surgery when it was not necessary and should not have happened, we have to know about it. We have to identify the children and be able to engage with their families. We need to make sure they are supported and that this never happens to another child again. It is the same for the surgeries we learned about this week. Again, the idea that materials that are corrosive when they touch moisture would be put into children's' bodies is absolutely appalling. None of us think this is okay. None of us think what has happened should have happened. Every single one of us on this side and that side of the bench will work together to make sure the children that need to be identified are identified and that measures that need to be taken to improve the procedures in hospitals are taken. People need to be protected at all costs.

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