Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

Before I begin speaking on the national human rights strategy for disabled people, I want to take an opportunity to reflect on the far-too-short life of Harvey Morrison Sherratt and to extend my sincere sympathies in the Dáil to his family, Gillian, Stephen, Lyla and Remy, and his extended family. The pain felt by those around Harvey can never be eased. What we can do now and are determined to do is to drive change, but I do want to acknowledge that.

In the weeks since Harvey's passing, I have asked the HSE CEO, Bernard Gloster, for a timeline of Harvey's care from a multidisciplinary perspective. I have received a draft, but we do not regard it as a final complete document until his parents have had an opportunity to feed in their perspectives. It will only be final once it is agreed and discussed and we have had the opportunity for Bernard Gloster, at the family's convenience, to agree a timeline of care. It is not for us to determine that by ourselves; their voices must be heard. I will also meet with Harvey's parents, Gillian and Stephen, with the Tánaiste shortly.

We will continue to drive improvements to try to get a better service in CHI. While we are here to speak about the national human rights strategy for people with disabilities and I would like to discuss that, I am conscious that when we speak about disabilities there are a group under the care of CHI for whom we are not, in my opinion, delivering timely enough services. Though we are doing more outpatient clinics on Saturdays - this year there have been 16 - which has resulted in an increase in the number of patients referred for surgery through better diagnostics through attending to people at an earlier stage of the order of an additional 700 as a consequence, we have recruited a new surgeon who began on 11 August, and we have put in more resources time and time again in terms of MRI machines, theatre capacity and additional human resources, I am still not satisfied with the timelines for surgeries or the referral pathways identified for 2025. It is a matter of fact that the 2025 plan that was received to the Department in relation to the surgical spinal plan was sent back as not being sufficient. I am not satisfied with the international referral pathways and have lots of questions about why there is a decrease in international pathways and an increase in referrals to Blackrock.

Some of the measures that we are taking to try to address the waiting management of it is a centralised management of dealing with cases and key workers to be able to respond to parents. Though I am not satisfied that neither of these things is in place today, I am told that they will be done by the end of September.

On restructuring the theatre plan, because of the capacity of the new surgeon to do more work and seeing what we can do with additional theatres in Cappagh, though I would have expected this to have been done already, I have examined the reasons for the cancellation of surgeries - literally all of the reasons for the distribution and why surgeries were cancelled because of a clinical reason, a matter within the hospital or a parental matter - and looked through those different reasons and tried to understand it better, but I cannot overstate my frustration with this. This is why I have asked Bernard Gloster to commission a specific audit into three practice areas in CHI, two of which are to be surgical - one neurological, one spinal services and one other medical profession to be determined by the auditor - to examine exactly how these pathways are occurring, exactly what is happening, and how people are referred to different processes or not. I have also put in a strong qualitative element to try to understand and be able to talk to parents on how it is that this was referred to them or that was referred to them, but not this or not that, to try to get a much better picture. I expect to have that audit by the end of November or the beginning of December, subject to the auditor.

I really would like to speak about the human rights strategy for disabled people but I appreciate I have used my time on that matter. It is important.

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