Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have tabled this matter to ask the Minister for Health to comment on the fact we have 150 children with limb deformities and serious spinal issues who are not being operated on. I know of at least one child who has become permanently paralysed since we raised this issue prior to Christmas.It is of great interest that neither the Minister nor one of his representatives has turned up to take a Commencement matter. Is that a precedent? It is an affront to this House and to the 150 children who are in pain as we speak. What makes those children different from other Irish citizens? As I have said before, it is because they are disabled. Because they are disabled, they are allowed to suffer on in pain. Can the Minister of State imagine a child becoming permanently paralysed on the Government's watch, despite it having been made aware of this matter before Christmas? I will not take a response from him. This is not personal; he knows the respect and the esteem in which I hold him, but the Minister has not bothered to turn up here.