The Tánaiste knows only too well the saga of Children’s Health Ireland, CHI. Children with scoliosis and spina bifida were left waiting years for care. In many cases, they never received it. There were unapproved, non-medical springs implanted in children’s backs, hundreds of unnecessary hip operations and mismanaged waiting lists. These are the so-called Crumlin orphans, children with complex needs who were ignored by the system and left with poor care. Promises were 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 but more are hidden or buried. Too often, families were the last to know, finding out through the media instead of from CHI. Broken promises have led to preventable deaths, lifelong harm, injury and disability. Trust between families, advocates and the system could not be lower. It is completely shattered.
The Tánaiste’s own broken promise 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 they were a year ago. It is because of those litanies of failures that families and advocates demanded an independent statutory inquiry, something the Government agreed to. We hoped it would be child centred, that families would be equal partners and there would be no hiding place for wrongdoing. This is what families and advocates say they were promised by the Minister and the Tánaiste.
A group representing over 900 families affected by the scandals at CHI has raised serious concerns about the scoping exercise to determine the terms of reference. Despite promises from the Government that the truth and their children would be put first, advocates now say the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, 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 They say documents are being hidden from them and unpublished reports are to be excluded. They say they are being stonewalled by a Minister who has not responded to their concerns. Families and advocates want one thing: to uncover the truth of what happened to their children and make sure it never happens again. That is something we should all want. There should be no hiding places, no fear of what may come out and no resistance to working with families and advocates.
This inquiry must be about truth, accountability and transparency. Any fit-for-purpose inquiry must also fully include families. It must have their faith and confidence. We can have that child-centred inquiry. It is not beyond us to get this right but it means the Government must listen to these advocates who have campaigned tirelessly for over a decade for their children and shown us the way forward. The only way to build trust is to work genuinely and in collaboration, 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. My question today is simple: will the Tánaiste listen to these families? Will he act on their concerns and make sure they can trust that this inquiry will not just become another broken promise?
