Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

I want to express my sincere condolences to the family of Harvey Morrison Sherratt. While he was failed by this State, he was very lucky to have such loving, strong parents, Gillian and Stephen, who fought and did everything they could to get him the treatment he needed. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late, but they continue to fight for all children like Harvey.

Before coming to the House today, I rang a constituent of mine who has a son with scoliosis who is in a wheelchair. I want to let the Minister know that these are issues that are coming directly from people on the front line. Her child does not qualify for scoliosis surgery because the curvature of his spine is not considered severe enough to join the waiting list. If he lived in England or America, he would be on the waiting list for surgery.

From what I am being told by parents, the criteria for children are too strict. The most severe cases are on the waiting lists but these children are left waiting for months, if not years, for urgent treatment and surgeries. The boy’s mother believes early intervention will give him the best opportunities in life and the best chance to correct the curvature of his spine. The system is in chaos while parents hear about scandals over springs and hip operations. How can parents trust the clinical decisions they are hearing about right now? The woman’s son is losing out because he was born in Ireland, and he is also losing out because he was born in Cork. I will explain why. He has two choices at home: to be in his wheelchair or to be in bed. There is nowhere else for him to be. He does not have a second chair, a specialist chair, in which he can sit, watch television, have meals or play games. What kind of system are we running when a child who uses a wheelchair cannot access another suitable chair? These are basic necessities for children who have disabilities. This is all wrong. How are we running the health service like this? It should be based on need, dignity and clinical decisions, but instead it depends on where someone lives. Is it a postcode lottery? This parent told me she knows of other parents whose children do have access to the equipment I have mentioned.

The Government should be ashamed of itself over how it has acted and treated these children and their families. Yesterday, we were in here and Simon Harris, the man who broke his promise to them, gave himself another promotion, to the position of Minister for Finance, but the only legacy people will remember is one of broken promises and his failure of the most vulnerable children in this State.

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