Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue.

I join Deputy Bacik - I omitted to do so earlier - in expressing my deepest sympathies to the families of Emmanuel Familola and Matt Sibanda and the community in Donegal on the sad and shocking drownings at the weekend of the two young teenagers who were enjoying themselves with their friends. What happened made for a very sad weekend altogether.

In respect of the issue raised by Deputy Tóibín, the audit will not look back 15 years. The audit that is currently being conducted relates to a random, anonymised sample of patients aged between one and seven years for the period 2021 to 2023. Letters have issued from CHI and Cappagh hospital to parents. That is not an audit, however. The clinical audit by the external author is as I have just described. We need to await the completion of that audit. I accept the concerns and appreciate that the absence of completion or information can compound anxiety for parents. That is why it is important that we get the complete audit and that we are in a position to share it with the parents and families, the Oireachtas and the public at large. An action plan will then be implemented and published to deal with that and to work with parents and patients.

I cannot draw conclusions until the Minister and I see the final report. The implications are disturbing, particularly if some of the assertions that were made prove accurate. In other words, if it emerges that they are truthful. There are issues. As I outlined in an earlier reply, changes to practices and protocols have already occurred in the context of a multidisciplinary approach and preoperative assessment. It seems that the latter clearly were not there in advance of this. Cases are being reviewed by a single team of clinicians from CHI and Cappagh hospital before decisions relating to surgery are made. That process has been in place since early March. As stated, in many cases if a child was operated on as far back as 2010, that child would still be getting check-ups through the teenage years.

One would routinely have follow-up until 14 and 15 years of age in respect of such surgeries, and indeed other surgeries as well. That is not uncommon. I favour the completion approach - in other words, getting the full audit out, getting it published and shared and then acting on it.

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