I have raised the issue of scoliosis since at least April 2017, when I initially submitted parliamentary questions to the then Minister for Health and now Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris. At that time, I asked for details of the current waiting lists for children with scoliosis, the number of children on the waiting list for treatment and the steps that the then Minister was taking to ensure scoliosis patients received treatment in a timely manner. I was told that improvements in scoliosis services were a priority for the Government and HSE and that steps were being taken to bring Ireland into line with the waiting times of the NHS in the UK. We all know what has happened to that commitment and those priorities. Since then, the situation has become immeasurably worse. The pain that children and their families endure is being compounded by a deep sense of betrayal and abandonment by successive Governments. The scoliosis waiting list action plan 2017 was jointly developed by the HSE and children's hospital group and has failed to deliver, despite the fact that as part of the proposal to address the spinal fusion waiting list a number of children were identified as being clinically appropriate to have their scoliosis surgery in other hospitals, such as the Mater, Cappagh and Temple Street. I would like to know how many additional nurses and consultants have started in the service since then. Without them, we cannot have the increase in theatre capacity we so badly need. How can the Government and Children's Health Ireland keep getting this issue so wrong? How on earth are we still here, almost a decade on from 2017, when I initially raised these questions? Is it incompetence or indifference? Is it just the cruel and unpalatable fact that the State is simply mired in dysfunction when it comes to addressing issues of this kind of complexity? We should be embarrassed and the pain and distress this has caused to so many families throughout the State is absolutely scandalous. We have to get to grips with this quickly. We have to instil confidence in services. People no longer have confidence because they have been treated so badly. Unfortunately, children have suffered.

Sentiment score: -0.25