Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the students in the Gallery. It is always great to see young people in this House. I assure them that we talk about them here.

I would like to respond to what Senator Freeman has said about a child who is waiting for services. It is an appalling vista. The Taoiseach has spent the past few weeks talking about making tax cuts over a period of five years. Every programme that the Government announces now is for another five years. We do not need to remind ourselves that Fine Gael has been in government for seven years. I am not here to criticise Fine Gael because it does many good things and I support many of its initiatives. I can honestly say that the treatment of children in this State is an absolute disgrace. Senators Freeman and Ó Ríordáin and other Members have spoken about the appalling and disgraceful experiences of children. It is an indictment of politics, and of the system across the board, that our children are being told they cannot have access to facilities and proper and decent healthcare because of funding. I spoke in this House recently about the closure of the children's unit in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. We constantly hear excuses from the Minister when he says that these are budgetary matters. He blames the HSE and everybody else. The Minister for Health and the Government are ultimately responsible for the delivery of proper and appropriate healthcare services for our people. We can no longer allow the Government of the day to come in here and make excuses. It has to be held to account. All of us must hold them to account. It is an absolute disgrace. The Minister, Deputy Harris, needs to be brought back in here to focus specifically on all forms of child healthcare, including child mental health issues. He needs to be grilled and held to account because it is an absolute scandal. There will be an election months from now.