Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is great to see the Minister in the Chamber again. I welcome her back.

This Bill is not just legislation, but a statement of our values as a nation. I thank Senator McDowell and the Independent Group for bringing it forward. It is a recognition that no child in Ireland should be left behind to suffer in pain while he or she waits for medical treatment, and it is an assertion that our healthcare system must be held accountable for the promises that we make to patients and families.Children with scoliosis have been ignored, left on ever-growing waiting lists and forced to endure unimaginable pain. This is not just a failure of our health system; it is a failure of governance, policy and our collective responsibility to protect the most vulnerable citizens. As everyone has spoken about the waiting lists, I will not repeat what has been said. These are not just numbers on a page; they are real children who are suffering while our healthcare system sometimes fails them.

The amendment I propose will give the Minister the power to set legally binding waiting targets to ensure no child is left waiting indefinitely. The targets are ten weeks for the first outpatient appointment and 12 weeks for an inpatient appointment. They are not just arbitrary figures; they were originally set out in the Sláintecare report, which outlined how Ireland could provide a world-class healthcare system. By making these wait times legally binding, we will ensure the HSE and CHI are held accountable.

The Bill is about making sure that scoliosis patients are no longer left behind. We found out today that behind these statistics and policy failures are real children and real people's families. I thank Senator Clonan for sharing his deeply personal experience. It is a real experience that highlights exactly what is happening to families across the country.

I want to highlight a case that has also been raised by Senator McDowell and others. It relates to a different but equally devastating failure of the system. A child in my constituency was diagnosed with mild scoliosis but her doctors warned that during puberty her condition would worsen and become moderate, which it did within a matter of weeks. Surgery is an option for her but, because she is still growing she would require multiple consecutive surgeries. In order to avoid this she attends multiple physiotherapy sessions every month, not to cure her condition but to slow its progression and manage her pain. The child has a medical card, yet her family must pay in excess of €300 every month for private physiotherapy because public services are unavailable. That is a significant financial burden, especially at present, for a lot of people. Her mother is struggling to keep up with the costs. The child has been on a waiting list for months for a medical consultation to see how she is getting on. It has been mentioned previously how this case highlights the broader issue of people who are often overlooked. I refer to those who are not yet in need of surgery but who desperately require medical intervention. They have been slipping through the cracks because there is no support for families in the healthcare system for the prevention of conditions requiring surgery.

We support the Bill. The amendment I propose offers a real solution. It introduces accountability, reinforces waiting time targets, and ensures that children suffering from scoliosis are no longer left behind. It is not just about politics; it is about basic human decency for many of these people. Every child in Ireland deserves timely care. The amendment puts a timeframe on the process and ensures timely, effective and compassionate medical care. Every family deserves a healthcare system they can rely on.