Sorca Clarke Demands Truth on Children's Health Ireland Inquiry

Tánaiste, you know only too well the saga of Children's Health Ireland. Children with scoliosis and spina bifida were left waiting years for care and in many cases never received it. Unapproved non-medical springs implanted in children's backs, hundreds of unnecessary hip operations, mismanaged waiting lists. The so-called Crumlin orphans, children with complex needs who were ignored by the system and left with poor care. Promises broken time and time again. There has been report after report showing mismanagement, a lack of transparency and our most vulnerable children being failed. Some reports have been published, some have been leaked, yet more are hidden or buried. Too often it was the families that were the last to know, finding out through the media instead of from CHI itself. Broken promises have led to preventable deaths, lifelong harm, injury and disability. Trust between families, advocates and the system couldn't be lower. It is completely shattered. Your own broken promises, Tánaiste, that no child would be left waiting more than four months for scoliosis surgery is a very painful memory for these families. There are still 30 children waiting longer than six months for surgery and the waiting lists are just as long as what they were a year ago. And it's because of those litanies of failures, families and advocates demanded an independent statutory inquiry. That is something you agreed to. We had hoped that it would be child-centred, that families would be equal partners and that there would be no hiding place for wrongdoing. This is what families and advocates say, that they were promised by the Minister and by yourself, Tánaiste. But now groups representing over 900 families affected by the scandals at CHI have raised serious concerns about the scope and exercise to determine the terms of reference. Despite promises from government that the truth and their children would be put first, advocates now say the Minister for Health has not remained true to her word and the process thus far has been anything but child-centred or based on the needs of the families involved. They say documents are being hidden from them, that unpublished reports are to be excluded and that they are being stonewalled by a Minister who has not responded to their concerns. Families and advocates want one thing, Tánaiste, to uncover the truth of what happened to their children and to make sure that it never happens again. And that is something we should all want. There should be no hiding places, no fear for what may come out, no resistance to working with families and advocates. This inquiry must be about truth, about accountability and about transparency. But any fit-for-purpose inquiry must also include the families fully. It must have their faith and confidence. We can have that child-centred inquiry. It's not beyond us, Tánaiste, to get this right, but it means government must listen to these advocates who have campaigned tirelessly for over a decade for their children and who have shown us the way forward. The only way to build trust is to work genuinely and collaboratively, with full openness and no attempt to limit, conceal or control access to information. The only motive should be to support these families and their children, to establish the facts. So, Tánaiste, my question today is simple. Will you listen to these families and will you act on their concerns and make sure that they can trust that this inquiry will not just become another broken promise? Thank you very much for raising this very important issue. Can I say at the outset, I think firstly everybody on all sides of this House recognises the very significant challenges and stress and worry that families face when they have a sick child and the very significant challenges that families face in relation to paediatric spinal services. There has been and there continues to be ongoing additional investment in this area. Around €30 million has been allocated to help tackle spinal waiting lists, a ring-fenced theatre, additional orthopaedic surgeons, improved GP referral pathways, additional outpatient clinics. Indeed, I saw a total of 556 patients attended Saturday clinics since the beginning of 2025, an important reform in terms of opening up access at weekends. When it comes to outpatients, we have seen that the average wait time has fallen to 4.4 months compared to 7.7 months in May, a year previous. 99.2% are now waiting less than 12 months for that outpatient appointment. When we look at inpatients, 200 inpatient procedures have been completed so far this year. The average wait time has fallen from 5.3 months in May 2025 to 4.6 months in May of this year. However, you are entirely correct to say, and the Minister knows, and I know, and everybody in government knows, that there is a lot more that we want to do in this area and that we need to do in this area too. Can I say this? There have been a number of concerning revelations over a sustained period of time in relation to CHI, and that is why the Minister for Health, Mr Cara MacNeill, has correctly taken the decision in terms of the direction of travel, in terms of subsuming and replacing CHI into the HSE. I think that is good from a governance point of view. I think it is an important step to take, which is the full support of all of government in relation to that. I think that is an important factor in relation to the trust word you used, because I accept that as well. We have also seen in a recent period of time the work that the Minister and the now former HSE CEO commissioned in relation to audits that were to be carried out regarding waiting lists and concerns in this regard too. We saw that published very recently. One of the things that I think is most striking when you read those audits is poor communications time and time again. I agree with you fully, and we agree with you fully, that often the issues in the health service can be added to or can be amplified by poor communications, by the family not feeling that they are at the centre in terms of information flow. That is why I really welcome Minister Cara MacNeill's decision to ask CHI to put in place a patient coordinator, because so much can be better improved when there are good, open, transparent lines of communication. I think you referenced that in the question as well. The Minister and I have had sustained engagement with advocate groups, and the government did agree to establish a scoping inquiry. I think that is really important that that work is carried out. The very eminent Remy Farrell, Senior Counsel, has been appointed to do that work, and I know he has been engaging with families, advocacy groups and consultants. I know he wants to conclude that work shortly. I know the government will also want to balance that with making sure that everybody has the opportunity to have their say, to engage with him, and I would really encourage everybody to engage. I say this so respectfully. We have appointed a very eminent, serious senior legal figure, and without prejudice for people to engage in that process, to have their views heard, I think will play a very important role in shaping terms of reference and the next step, because we do all want the same thing. We all want a situation here where we have an inquiry that can examine the issues that have arisen and, as you say, make sure they do not arise again, and also build a health service that can serve the needs of all of our children. So we have that structure in place. Government is very committed to it. I know Remy Farrell, Senior Counsel, is very committed to doing a good job, and I would really encourage everybody to take that opportunity to have their say, have their input, and to know that government will respond in kind. What I find striking is the letter from the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group that states very, very clearly, we feel we have no other option but to withdraw from the scope and exercise. I find that deeply, deeply concerning, honestly, because trust isn't built on promises. It's built on keeping them. These families were promised a child-centred, co-designed inquiry, and today they say very clearly that that trust or that promise has been broken. If government has nothing to hide, then hide nothing. Honour the commitments that were made to these families. Publish every unpublished report, every single piece, every document, every unanswered letter. Send the same message to these families, that there is protection of the system matters more than uncovering the truth. Give families access to all the CHI reports, so that they can at least engage effectively. Let them see what happened. Let them see the truth, and how it is that this came about, because otherwise you can't say that this will never happen again, and they want this to never happen again. It's not too late to do the right thing, and this is one issue where you need to hold to your promises. So just to be very clear, the government is fulfilling its commitment, Deputy Clerk, to this House and the decision that the government took to appoint Remy Farrell, Senior Counsel, to carry out a scoping inquiry. There are a number of advocacy groups, I think there may be eight advocacy groups roughly in this space, in relation to children's paediatric spinal care, and I know many are engaging with Remy Farrell. I'd encourage genuinely everybody to engage, without prejudice, to provide information, questions, concerns that they would like Remy Farrell, as an independent, external, senior legal figure, to consider and to report back to government. I think that is a good way to proceed. We also did extend the terms of reference, to include the hip dysplasia group as well. So this isn't a question of government, this is a question of getting to the answers, in terms of CHI, the legitimate and important issues that people have highlighted, so that the Minister is then empowered to take the appropriate decisions that she wishes to take, to deliver a world-class children's health service, with a new National Children's Hospital, with all the additional resources going into children's health, with the reforms that she's leading on, and the benefits we're seeing now, around those additional resources, the Saturday outpatient clinics and the likes. So we want everybody to engage here in good faith, with Remy Farrell, and we want to make progress on this.