Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. However, the Minister and I know that the road from here to Mayo is paved with good intentions and unimplemented strategies, many of which have been outlined here. The subsequent action plan and its implementation will be the test of whether the strategy will bring about genuine change or is just another collection of words.

The fact is that the Government is breaking the law, as Cara Darmody continues to point out again and again, as regards assessments of need. The tragic and avoidable passing of Harvey Morrison Sherratt over the summer must bring an end to the neglect of children with significant medical needs in the State. My sincere condolences to his parents, Gillian and Stephen, and my deepest gratitude to them for the campaign they are leading to save the lives of other children who wait for operations. I fully support their pursuit of a full independent statutory inquiry.

Mikey Henry from Mayo is a young person who has experienced the consequences of a failure of care in Children's Health Ireland, CHI. His story has been raised by me and others in the House He is 17 years of age. When his parents first tried to access an operation to address his scoliosis in 2022, the curve in his spine was 82°. This week, the curve in his spine is 130°. Mikey's scoliosis has deteriorated to the point that it has damaged his lungs and left him struggling to breathe on his own, requiring oxygen during the day and a mask at night to breathe. This has happened despite promises in 2017 from the Tánaiste and then Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, that by the end of the year no child would have to wait more than four months for scoliosis surgery. This is evidently not the reality for families up and down the country.

In the Irish Independent today, Mary Regan reported that the number of children waiting for spinal surgery continues to rise. Right now, there are 135 children on the waiting list, an increase of 108 since the start of the year. Only seven children have received surgery abroad since the previous Minister for Health instructed the HSE to send any child waiting more than four months for surgery to the UK or New York to receive their life-saving treatment. We know some children are not medically fit to travel as their scoliosis has deteriorated.

When I spoke to Harvey's mum, Gillian, last week, I asked her what immediate steps need to be taken to ensure no other lives are lost. She outlined two very practical and immediate measures. The first was insourcing. Why are we not bringing in consultants and surgeons from abroad to carry out life-saving surgeries and operations as a matter of urgency? The second was the ring-fencing of a small section of private hospitals to carry out surgeries on non-complex patients, thereby freeing up public hospitals for more complex surgeries where multiple treatments are required. I ask that the House be updated on a weekly basis until all of the children on the waiting list have received their life-saving surgery. If we are not about saving lives here, what are we about?

I also want to raise the necessity of Mikey and other children and young adults being provided with suitable transport, which can carry the oxygen tanks they now need, in order to meet the needs of the families and children with scoliosis who have been failed over and over again in so many ways. What kind of stupid bureaucracy denies these children and families something as basic as transport? This has to be sorted out. This is the first day back of this Dáil. If we cannot save the lives of these children, what are we doing? We absolutely have to do this. We have to do everything possible and have accountability. We did not have accountability for Harvey, but we need accountability for the other children who are waiting.

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