Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I offer condolences to everyone who loved Garda Kevin Flatley: his heartbroken wife, Una, and their two children, Aoife and Erin; his parents, family and friends; and, of course, his colleagues in An Garda Síochána. He was a devoted father, a man with a deep grá for community and a GAA man with his beloved club, O'Dwyer's in Balbriggan. His death is a devastating reminder of the dangers faced by gardaí as they keep us safe. Tá fear maith caillte ag a chlann. Tá garda den scoth caillte ag a phobal. Seasann an tír ag caoineadh leo. A good man is lost to his family, a great garda is lost to his community and the country mourns with them. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

The controversy regarding unnecessary hip surgery carried out on children in CHI hospital has deepened. The Minister for Health has finally confirmed that parents are receiving letters about operations on children as far back as 2010. This is the first confirmation from Government that this scandal goes back at least 15 years, and not the two-year period previously asserted by Government.

We have been raising this issue with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste for weeks. We did so because we had been contacted directly by parents literally at their wits' end, having received letters from CHI regarding operations their children had 15 years ago.

We have been raising it with the Taoiseach, conscious of all of those parents who are now asking themselves whether their children were operated on unnecessarily, how this could have happened and what the consequences are. Each time the Taoiseach has been questioned on this scandal, he and Simon Harris have responded with non-answers. They have refused to give clarity and so parents have been stonewalled by CHI and the Government.

After weeks of trying to contain the truth, we have, finally, in black and white from the Minister for Health confirmation that letters have been issued to parents of children who had operations 15 years ago. The Minister's response to Teachta David Cullinane states that letters were issued "in recent weeks to families and patients who had hip dysplasia procedures since 2010". She said this was “to provide reassurance and information about the audit, and to ensure all potential cases were included”. The truth is that the Government has given neither information nor reassurance to parents. In fact, it has been ducking, diving and dodging. The Minister has now accepted there are cases going back to 2010, which means the investigation is not limited in the way the Government had previously claimed. In fact, it stretches back 15 years at least. If the 2021 to 2023 audit recalled 561 children - this we know - how many children in total are subject to recall in the full look-back process? Is it hundreds? Is it thousands? What is the number?

The Minister for Health also says an action plan is being prepared. She states that the plan will include the identification of groups of patients not included in the audit sample but who may be affected by any findings of the audit. Will the Taoiseach explain exactly what that means? Will he tell parents sick with worry who may be listening today what precisely all of this means for their children?

Tar éis don Rialtas cúpla mí a chaitheamh ag diúltú freagraí a thabhairt, tá deimhniú faighte againn anois go dtéann an scannal maidir le hobráidí ar chromáin chomh fada siar le 15 bliain ó shin. Tá an fhírinne iomlán tuillte ag tuismitheoirí.

The parents of children caught up in this hip surgery scandal deserve answers and the full truth. Now we know this scandal goes back 15 years at least. Will the Taoiseach finally tell us how many letters have been issued to parents and how many children have been recalled? Does this go back even further than 2010? How many children are involved?

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