Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

We have heard a lot of nonsense today from the Government about the timing of this debate. This is the Government's motion. We in Aontú promised in August, after the death of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, that we would bring a motion of no confidence at the earliest opportunity. Next week is our earliest opportunity to do that. If the death of a child, the continuous, painful suffering of hundreds of children and the disablement of hundreds of children are not reason enough for a motion of confidence, what the hell is? In all the debates we have all the time in this place, if the continuous dysfunction of an organisation for well over a decade leading to all of this harm and the relationship with that organisation and the Minister in charge is not reason enough for a motion of no confidence, what the hell is? The Tánaiste needs to ask himself that question.

I want to bring this back, if I can, to the individual people who are concerned in this and the case of Kira Carberry, a 22-year-old girl from Longford. She was diagnosed with early onset scoliosis at the age of ten. At that time, she had a thoracic curvature of 45 degrees and was put on an urgent waiting list to see a consultant. That did not happen for 11 months. In that period of 11 months, the curvature more than doubled. While she waited, her thyroid was damaged, which affected her mood. Her lungs were crushed, which left her with lung disease. She struggles with stomach problems, which cause her chronic pain every single day, and she is dependent on medication to deal with that pain.

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