Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)

Our health system has failed some of the most vulnerable children in the State. In 2017, a clear promise was made that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery. That promise was broken, with devastating consequences. Right now, 139 children are actively waiting for spinal surgery this year. Four hundred and forty-six surgeries were completed, yet 462 new patients joined the list. We now know that the pledge of four months was based on assurances given to the then Minister by HSE leadership and senior officials at CHI, who told him the target was achievable. Those assurances were wrong and parents paid the price. The tragic death of Harvey Morrison Sherratt and the allegation that he was removed from the waiting list because he was deemed palliative have shattered public confidence. His parents have been clear that they want a statutory public inquiry with full powers to compel evidence and broad scope to uncover systemic failures over decades, accountability in respect of those who made harmful decisions, and above all, real change with ring-fenced funding, stronger governance and a national spinal treatment service so no child will suffer like Harvey did. The Government has now agreed to an inquiry, but this cannot be a box-ticking exercise; it must be family led, transparent and fearless in exposing the truth. When it concludes, its recommendations must be implemented, not ignored. I ask those on the Government benches to commit to implementing in full every recommendation of the inquiry and guaranteeing ring-fenced funding and a timeline for reform. Anything less represents another broken promise. There can be no more broken promises and certainly no more preventable tragedies.

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