Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)

If I may start by joining my colleagues in wishing Martin Hughes the best of luck in his new position and congratulating him on it. I am sure he will carry it out in a professional way just as Martin Groves and Bridget Doody did. I thank them for their courtesy, support and professionalism and wish them long and happy retirements.

I wish to raise the issue of children and safeguards for children in our country and ask for a debate on it. A number of issues occurred over the summer that are of huge concern. The first was the sad passing of Harvey Morrison Sherratt. I extend condolences to his parents Gillian and Stephen again and commend them on speaking out so bravely on Harvey’s struggles and how he waiting so long for an operation on his spine that by the time it was performed the progression of the spinal curve was so severe that it could not be fully corrected. I know other children have become inoperable because they too have had to wait so long and that should not be the case. No child should have to wait in pain for an operation that they require so that they can live their life to the full.

The other issue is that of children disappearing. We had little Daniel Aruebose in Donabate and it is still unknown what happened to little Kyran Durnin either in his life. How can children disappear for years on end and not be missed by State agencies that should know their whereabouts and have the checks in place so they know that children are safe? It is something we need to ensure will not happen again or that it has not happened again. We need to ensure there are no children out there unaccounted for. We need to get answers on the two we know of and ensure there are safeguards going forward. I call again for that debate.