Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hold the Minister of State in very high esteem and have great respect for him. The fact that the Minister and the Department have not sent anybody here is absolutely emblematic of the contempt in which they hold disabled children and their parents.

The core issue is that two of Ireland's most experienced spinal surgeons came before the Joint Committee on Health last year and called out Children's Health Ireland, CHI, in respect of Temple Street and Cappagh. They said that we have a cohort of children who are not being treated within the therapeutic window. That makes us outliers in both European and international terms. It means that children are undergoing unnecessarily complex spinal surgeries. In that context, my own son was an anaesthetic risk going in for his spinal surgery to the extent that he had to be manually extubated by the anaesthetist or he would not have survived intensive care.

Why are CHI, the Minister and the Department putting us through this pain and trauma? Why are these 150 children being left on waiting lists without surgery? One of them has become permanently paralysed. Is the Minister of State listening to what I am saying? A child has become permanently paralysed. That is completely and utterly unacceptable. The Minister cannot even come in here and take a Commencement matter. He is showing contempt for the House and its processes.

The two senior surgeons to whom I refer basically blew the whistle on the mistreatment and ill-treatment of disabled children. As a consequence, they are now both the target of whistleblower reprisal on the part of the management of CHI. Representatives of CHI came before the joint committee prior to Christmas. Their contributions were not credible. Their position is not tenable. I want to know if the Minister, the Tánaiste or the Taoiseach have confidence in the board of CHI, because I do not. The two surgeons do not, but they have been suspended. The latter was an act of whistleblower reprisal; it fits the classic template. The surgeons came before the committee, pointed out the deficiencies in the system and have now been suspended. As a consequence of their suspension, no surgeries are being carried out on children with very serious spinal issues.

As I said, we have children with limb deformities that are not being addressed. This is completely and utterly intolerable, and the Minister has not even shown up here today. The burden of this whistleblower reprisal is being borne by 150 children. Members of this House ,quite rightly express concern about children in Gaza and Ukraine but 150 Irish children have been left in pain. I am not going to leave the House until the Minister comes here. I am not going to quit this position until the Minister comes in or sends one of his representatives. What is happening is completely disrespectful and is emblematic of how this State treats disabled citizens and disabled children, who are the most vulnerable people in our society. It is an absolute disgrace.