Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 4 Mar 2026

The appalling failure of children with scoliosis and spina bifida is the shameful indictment of this and of successive governments. For years the harrowing stories of children left to wait in agony for their operations has been a distressing feature of debate here in the Dáil. And yet the government has never matched its promises with the actions needed. Heartbroken parents forced to watch their child suffer and deteriorate, robbed of a normal childhood, racing against the clock with the fear of becoming inoperable. Parents forced to pour out their anguish in the media just to get the government to pay attention. These parents have shown enormous bravery, a courage and fight that only the love for your child can inspire. The cases of some of these children provoked widespread public shock and anger. I'm thinking of Harvey Morrison-Sheratt, Mikey Henry Benson, Daniel Collins and of course more recently little Roxanne Kelly. Their stories spoke to the awful experiences of hundreds of more children left to wait and left to suffer. It's now eight years since Simon Harris promised that no child would wait longer than four months for spinal surgery, a promise broken repeatedly. Today children are still left in desperate and dreadful situations. The family of seven-year-old Roxanne Kelly left to fundraise so they can take her to America to get the scoliosis surgery she so badly needs. No child and no family should be forced to do this. The backdrop to the suffering of these children and families is the litany of scandals at Children's Health Ireland. This includes the use of unauthorised springs in surgeries on children and the carrying out of unnecessary hip surgeries on children as young as seven. Children failed catastrophically. Public confidence shattered not only in that organisation but also in the government's basic ability to oversee the provision of children's health care. These failures sparked major reviews into practices at CHI and it is disgraceful that families were left to learn of the completion of phase one of the NIGAM review in a Sunday newspaper last month. Even though Minister Carol McNeill had been briefed days before and the HSE had received the completed report last September. The Minister hiding behind technicalities and refusing to publish the phase one of the report is just unacceptable. It should be published immediately and parents are entitled to know what it contains. The death of 9-year-old Harvey Morrison-Sharani is the death of 9-year-old Harvey Morrison-Sharani. That last July was a tipping point. His heartbroken parents not only endured his loss but also the revelation that he had been removed from the surgery waiting list without their knowledge or consent. Through their grief, Gillian and Stephen, along with other parents, fought for a public inquiry into Children's Health Ireland. This demand was finally secured in a meeting with Tawnaishta, Simon Harris and Minister Carol McNeill last November. However, four months on, parents and advocacy groups have real concerns about government backsliding on its commitments. Delays in producing the terms of reference and a lack of clarity regarding the role of the facilitator has stoked real worries. The Minister has now appointed a facilitator for the scoping exercise that will inform the terms of reference. And I think we need to be very clear this evening. This must be a full public inquiry. It cannot be directed by Simon Harris or indeed by the Minister. It must be shaped primarily by the experiences of those impacted by the failures at CHI. Government committed to equal partnership, to working with parents to get the terms of reference right. And that must be delivered. No railroading, no stonewalling, no whitewash, just transparency, truth and accountability. That is what the children affected and their families deserves. And those children waiting for surgery need the government to match their promise of change with action on capacity, on resources and funding. They don't need lip service. They don't need excuses. These children need their operations. They don't need their operations. They don't need their operations.