Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)

I wish the Minister well as she tackles this issue. There is no one on any side of the House who does not want to see children get timely access to the care they need. I commend the advocates who have long been calling for a statutory public inquiry into spina bifida and complex scoliosis services. I cautiously welcome the fact the Government has agreed to this. The reason I say I cautiously welcome it is because the terms and references have to be spot-on in this. We have all heard about the unregulated springs used in operations of children and the unnecessary hip operations, so we need to find out from a governance level what actually led to these failures in the first place so that they do not happen again. We simply cannot allow the wreckage of the past and a toxic culture in CHI to take hold in a new CHI hospital.

The scope of this public inquiry must not be too narrow. We do not need to see little bits of the jigsaw but, rather, the whole picture. The public inquiry must look at this and it must be able to compel people to appear to simply get the answers. Documents must also be compelled to help the inquiry. The facilitator appointed to consult stakeholders must be independent and he or she must ensure that no cohort or particular group of children are left out of this process. We need to have an overall view of the care children have received. This includes an investigation into the deaths of children and whether these deaths are linked to waiting on scoliosis surgery. The inquiry must also look at children who have post-op complications, including infections. The inquiry also needs to look at HIQA’s role in all of this and why it did not sound the alarm bells sooner. We need to see full accountability.

The tribunal should be able to issue recommendations while it is ongoing. That is what the advocacy groups have been calling for. While the inquiry is ongoing, these recommendations must be implemented in a timely manner.

It would be remiss of me if I did not mention the tragic death of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt. I have got to know Harvey’s parents, Stephen and Gillian, over the last couple of years. They have tirelessly campaigned, both before Harvey passed away and since his untimely death, for better healthcare for children. Last year, I asked in this House why Harvey was removed from the waiting list without his parents’ knowledge. Today, as we speak, Stephen and Gillian still do not have an answer to this.

We have seen reports from a whistleblower - reports I know the Minister is well aware of - stating that Harvey was removed as CHI deemed him to be palliative. This is totally unacceptable. We just need to get to the truth of this matter. Why was Harvey removed from the list, who knew about it and when did they know about it? This is about what happened at CHI level and at Government level. It is not about a witch-hunt or anything like it. It is just about finding out what happened so that it does not happen to another child. Harvey's case must be a reminder that management and political failures have real-life consequences. We need to see full accountability. The statutory inquiry should be how we finally get justice for Harvey.

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