Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is lovely to see the Minister of State. I hope he is on a good road to recovery. All the eloquent speeches in the world are not as good as the words of a mother so I will put on the record of the House an email I received this week.

I am writing to you as an upset, anxious parent of my child, Callum ... living with scoliosis waiting for spinal rod treatment.

The delays in treatment times have now become a children's rights issue that was a problem long before covid and the cyber-attack. This has made the orthopaedic list worse. I see Callum deteriorate every day he is left waiting.

Callum was born on 19th February 2019. At around 6 months old we noticed something was not right with his back and our GP referred us to Temple St for assessment (x-ray, MRI). Mr Connor Green, who recently advocated so passionately for Irish children at the Oireachtas Health Committee, diagnosed Callum who is now nearly 3, with early onset idiopathic scoliosis. Initial treatment involved casting Callum which we did twice. However Mr Green had to halt that process and move instead with a plan to do spinal rod surgery. Callum has been on the waiting list for his first set of rods since February 2021. His curve back then was around 55 degrees. We don't know what it is now, only that is worse. As the curve continues to increase in magnitude, this-limitation in respiratory function will shorten Callum's life period. We were originally told he would be seen no later than July/August. It is now November and we still have no date. The wait is agony as I hope you can imagine. We live in limbo with constant uncertainty, worry and stress. Callum is so small. Every day that passes is a lost opportunity.

Children's Health Ireland has submitted plans that require funding from the HSE, to help alleviate the pressure on Temple Street and Crumlin.

I would like you to ask Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly [who sadly is not with us, with all due respect to the Minister of State] and Paul Reid, CEO of the HSE if the funding will be approved? Can they guarantee that this will be approved and when? Callum like many more children need help now and this desperate crisis resolved sooner not later. We need you to continue to ask these questions from those that hold the key to the funding.

Callum does not have time on his side. Growth is not his friend. We have some of the very best surgeons in the world, PLEASE let them do their job before they go elsewhere to do it.