Is mór agam an deis seo labhairt ar cheist na scolóis agus an gortú agus dochar atá tar éis bheith déanta do pháistí a bhí ag fanacht ar obráid. As a topic, like for any parent or anyone who has loved ones as children in this House, it is an incredibly tough subject to talk about. It is something that we have spoken about quite a bit since the general election. It is something that should be top of mind and focus, but also something that we show that there is progress being made on not only in making sure that every child has access to timely and appropriate care, but that we understand fully what happened in the past and make sure that never happens again. I am also conscious that when I speak I have been lucky in the fact that no one close to me has been afflicted with scoliosis or has had to be at the centre of a lot of the stories there and I am mindful that when I speak there are people listening or watching who have been through that experience. I want to be mindful of that in the words that I choose and the sentiments that I convey. One element that has been most striking and shocking to me in following the story has been the culture that seemed to exist among certain aspects of CHI with regard to the treatment of children. It is often said that culture eats strategy for breakfast but in terms of the efforts that are being made, I still have serious questions over that culture that existed in CHI. The integration of CHI into the HSE is a welcome move. It makes sense and I hope it deals with the fundamental cultural issue that seems to have been at the core of a lot of what has happened. Anther aspect of this is the basic tenet of communication. I welcome the approach that has been taken with regard to the inquiry and involving and communicating with parents about the inquiry. Every one of us who has had a medical intervention or a medical consultation values our relationship with the clinician we are dealing with. What we value about it is their ability to communicate to us in a timely, transparent and fair way about what sort of procedure we might have to undergo and what the prognosis is for our condition. It seems that value of basic, clear, transparent communication was not always there with regard to some of the families in this instances and that is something that needs to be top of mind, and especially as we look towards the inquiry. I welcome that progress has been made towards establishing that inquiry but it is important that communication and that transparency be key to it. A lot of statistics are used in the discussion of this issue. It is important that we as politicians make sure that we are comfortable with analysing the data underlying those statistics, that we get under the bonnet of why exactly trends are happening and whether we are seeing the progress that we need to see, that we ensure the accountability that is necessary for the systems that are supposed to be delivering this care for children to ensure that those systems are delivering the progress and that we are fully across and fully understand what is going on in our hospitals. Since the Government was elected, that is something that the Minister has been leading from the front on in understanding what is going on with regard to the data, why are the numbers saying what they are saying and how do we ensure that we continue to bring down that overall waiting time. We are not done with this yet; there is still progress to be made here. The most important thing for any of us who are parents to children is that we get a clear understanding of what has happened in the past, and that some of the unacceptable failures that transpired are avoided again in the future. Compassion, communication and transparency must be at the heart of our approach going forward and the awful mistakes and tragedies that have happened here must be avoided again in the future. That should be our wish and desire for anyone who accesses our healthcare system, but especially for children.

Sentiment score: 0.25