Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

I welcome the opportunity for statements on this topic though I pushed for this to be questions and answers rather than statements given the sprawling nature of the issues that surround CHI. I want to cover three key points: the human impact on these families, the constant crisis, which is unnecessary, and the fact we seem to want to hide from our failures instead of addressing them as a State.

It is important to spend some time reflecting on the human impact and the realities of the long and painful wait for spinal surgery in this country. These children are left in limbo and are denied the opportunity to enjoy their childhood and have the best possible chance at life. Long waiting times have resulted in children no longer being able to get surgery because their condition has progressed so much. They do not get to enjoy school, playing sport or hanging out with their friends without the worry of medication, pain and hospital appointments, or, even worse, no hospital appointment at all. My heart goes out to the family of Harvey Morrison Sherratt and all the children and families who continue to be affected by a lack of care for scoliosis and spina bifida. They deserve better from this State and we must deliver better.

This constant crisis is unnecessary. In the face of repeated failures and the promise years ago from Deputy Simon Harris that no child would wait longer than four months for surgery, and in every new revelation about how these children and their families have been let down, most frustrating is that all this suffering is entirely unnecessary. We are an incredibly wealthy country with billions of euro going into our health service. We have a national focus and public backing for issues to be addressed. We have a plan to fix the problems in our health system and to introduce an efficient, public and robust healthcare system in Sláintecare yet we still have children becoming inoperable because they have waited so long and children in pain while their families watch on given we seem to want to hide from our failures instead of addressing them. Children's Health Ireland has been plagued with scandal, with each new detail worse than the last. We have clear systemic problems in our health service when children are being implanted with non-medical grade devices, when unnecessary hip surgeries are performed on children and when children who do need treatment cannot access it or are removed from waiting lists without their or their families' knowledge. These revelations came out piece by piece. We need a public inquiry that delivers for those affected and the publication of all reviews. We should not have to be here to talk about what we can do to give these families justice and services. They should have received timely care but it is left to us now to deliver on the broken promises and ensure change.

I am very familiar with the Commissions of Investigation Act and agree with my colleague that it has not yet yielded enough examples of human rights-compliant commissions of investigation, public inquiries or tribunals. It is up to the Government to use that legislation in the right way and meet the standards and obligations we have to be human rights-compliant in this inquiry.

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