Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the sincerity of the Minister of State’s response. I know she and I are on the same page when it comes to our concern with children and citizens with additional needs.I have deep concerns about the surgical qualifications of these people carrying out urological procedures. Many are general paediatric surgeons with no specialisation in urology which is not consistent with international best practice. Some of them are not on the urological surgery register. We should not have surgeons intervening in that way.

We are in breach, on Children's Health Ireland's watch, of Article 25 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which provides that disabled citizens have a right to enjoy good health, development and so on. I have written to the Chair of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. I want Bernard Gloster, CEO of the HSE; the chief clinical officer, Colm Henry; and the CEO of CHI to come in and explain themselves because this is not one list; it is another list. It is evidence of a lack of proper governance, oversight and management. At this very sensitive moment, when we are transferring all the care and closing down two hospitals and going into a new environment, there is a serious risk that children will suffer needlessly life-limiting and life-altering outcomes that are avoidable. We need a different management team in place.