The Tánaiste will be aware of the tragic case of little Roisin Ruddle — go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire uirthi — 15 months ago. Following that tragic case where that child was sent home from Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin, the Minister for Health and Children set up an independent inquiry to review a report which was conducted by the health board. Neither report has been published.

We now have another circumstance where two children have been sent home, one of whom, I understand, was gowned and ready for surgery. This is appalling and God forbid that anything will happen to either of those two children or any other child in this circumstance.

I put it to the Tánaiste that the Government of which she is a part has not learned any lesson in the past 15 months. Both the internal report and the departmental report should be published forthwith. Will the Tánaiste give an assurance to the parents of children all over the country that unlike the last time when the Government said it would take steps to ensure this would never happen again, that she, as Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, will deal with this matter today and explain to the House why it is that a child waiting and gowned for surgery was suddenly sent home?

This is simply not good enough. It means the Government in which she is the Minister for Health and Children has not learned any lesson in the past 15 months. Will she ensure these two reports are published, explain the circumstances of what happened here and make arrangements so this will not happen again?

The report in respect of the late Roisin Ruddle has not yet been completed. I understand it is imminent and it will be published.

In regard to the two cases the Deputy mentioned, I understand they happened because of a shortage of intensive care nurses in Crumlin hospital. There is a worldwide shortage of paediatric intensive care nurses.

The Tánaiste said here last night that we have enough nurses.

Allow the Tánaiste to continue without interruption. The Deputy is not the leader of the Fine Gael Party.

She said that we have enough nurses.

What I said yesterday was that Ireland has the highest proportion of nurses——

The Tánaiste said we have enough nurses, but they are gone.

I will have to ask the Deputy to leave the House if he does not cease interrupting.

We do not have enough nurses or enough beds. That is the reality.

I will ask the Deputy to leave if he does not stop interrupting.

The Tánaiste should stop the spin.

Ireland has the highest proportion of nurses to the population in all the OECD countries. That is a fact.

They are not working in Ireland.

Ireland, like many other countries, has a shortage of intensive care nurses for paediatrics. There is a global shortage. Representatives of the hospital have been overseas recruiting in the Middle East, Poland and in other places and they have to recruit nurses who can speak English. It takes six and a half years to train an ICU nurse for paediatrics-——

The Tánaiste has been in power for eight years.

If the Deputy interrupts once move, he will have to leave.

——four years' training plus two and a half years to qualify in intensive care. Therefore, such nurses, unfortunately, cannot be found quickly.

These are here, but they have left the system.

Allow the Tánaiste to continue without interruption.

I appeal to Deputies not to play politics with a very sad situation.

Hear, hear.

To say we are playing politics with this issue is outrageous.

I will be talking to the authorities in Crumlin hospital today. That is what Deputy Kenny asked me to do and I will do that.

Nobody on this side of the House would play politics with children's lives. I assure the Tánaiste of that. I do not want to see a situation where the Tánaiste, as Minister for Health and Children, or the Government she represents would reduce health care to the level of consumer provider. Children who need life-saving surgery are not consumers. They need healing and a Government that will do its duty.

It is not good enough to say the hospital authorities have been recruiting in Poland and the Middle East. They have, as have other hospital authorities. I am aware that the existing staff of ICU nurses in Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin are quite prepared to do the extra shifts to ensure no child will be sent home like the two, to whom I referred, on the basis of an alleged shortage of intensive care nurses. However, the fact is that the hospital authorities will not pay the nurses because they do not have the resources to do so.

In the past eight years €44 billion has been spent on health services. When the Tánaiste speaks to the hospital authorities in Crumlin hospital today, I want her to ask them if is it clear that the intensive care nursing staff are quite prepared to do these shifts and work the extra hours to ensure no child will suffer like this, but that the hospital authorities are unable to pay them because they say they do not have the resources to do so. I ask the Tánaiste to please deal with this and I will support her on this.

What we are talking here about are patients and in this case two young children. There is no question of resources being an issue. This is not an issue of resources. As the Deputy said, we are spending over €10 billion a year and have spent more than €44 billion over the past number of years.

It was spent badly and not well planned.

It is not a resource issue and I will talk to the hospital authorities today in regard to this matter.

It is a resource issue; it is a case of mismanagement.

The Government is saving money for the election.

I ask the Deputy to allow the Tánaiste to continue.

This is a sad and serious situation. It has arisen before. We want to ensure that it does not arise again. That is why it is important that we get the nurses we require from wherever. Hopefully, we can train them from our nursing population but I understand it takes six and half years. It takes an awful long time to train a nurse to the standard required to work in ICU paediatrics——

They are here but have left the service.

There is a global shortage of such nurses all over Europe and all over the United States.

They are here but have left the service because of pay and conditions.

I remind the Deputy that she is not the leader of the Fine Gael Party.

Nurses are paid better in Ireland than they are almost anywhere in the world.

I would prefer if the Tánaiste did not answer questions by way of interruption.

Yet none of them wants to work in the service.

They are paid better here.