Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister of State and the Government to listen to the families. From a sample of classes, 79% of hip surgeries on children at one hospital and 60% at another were found to be unnecessary. There are cases where not only was a second opinion not considered to be necessary but actually found an incorrect diagnosis. Parents are outraged, but the overwhelming response from those parents I have spoken to has been worry and concern - concern as to the well-being of their children who, on the watch of Children's Health Ireland and potentially successive governments, may have undergone unnecessary surgeries. That worry and concern is compounded by uncertainty because they are in the dark as to whether they are impacted by the scandal they read about in the papers, another scandal in Irish society, a scandal in our health service, a scandal mismanaged by the Government from the get-go. Those potentially impacted are left uncertain. None of this is new. This State has a long and sad history of failing its citizens, especially children. We know the playbook: silence from the Government; another report commissioned, maybe followed by a review of that report; victims or those impacted forced to campaign endlessly for justice; and, perhaps, eventually, years later, an apology and a promise that "lessons have been learnt".

I commend my colleague and Sinn Féin spokesperson on health, David Cullinane, TD, on bringing forward this motion, which comprehensively sets out what the Government must do. If there is to be a break from all the scandals of the past, there must be transparency. All who are potentially impacted must be provided with certainty because it is not acceptable that today, nearly 18 months after a protected disclosure that was made to Children's Health Ireland, so many remain uncertain. If there is to be a break from all the scandals of the past, there must be accountability at an individual, organisational and political level. If there is to be a break from all the scandals of the past, this needs to happen now, and the Minister can change this when her audit is complete.

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