Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

The Minister must admit it is quite shocking that it will take 14 months for a question asked in September 2024, about how many children have been taken off waiting lists without their parents knowing, to be answered. It points again to the dysfunction. I welcome that the Minister has met with parents about this. That is a good thing. The Minister mentioned money going into this section. Some €11.6 million was provided to outsource operations abroad for children who need it. As of now, there is no child scheduled for operations abroad. This shows that while money is being provided, it is meaningless if it is not making a practical difference to the lives of these children. The 2024 report of CHI has also not been published. That is scandalous. The 2023 report, in fairness, states that CHI is sitting on approximately €36 million at the moment. My understanding is that it is not spending it because that money has been assigned to fit out the new children's hospital.

See this speech in context