The family of an eight-year-old girl, Brianna, was left devastated when her surgery for scoliosis was cancelled for the second time. This transcends politics. We need to fix this problem. This is about decency and right and wrong. That young girl left the hospital not with her surgery completed but in a wheelchair. She was in tears. We were left with images of young girl crying her eyes out because this Government has not provided the capacity. This goes back to when Deputy Harris was Minister for Health, and indeed previous Ministers for Health made commitments. We do not have the protective capacity. She left because there was no hospital bed. That is a capacity issue. It is a disgrace and a stain on all of us that this happened. We really need to sort it out.

I appreciate the sincerity of Deputy Cullinane in raising an individual case here but without having any of the information it is not possible for me to comment on it directly. I can guarantee that the Minister and the HSE are doing all they can to improve services when it comes to scoliosis and paediatric spinal surgery in general. There have been real improvements in waiting times. There are also setbacks from time to time but it is a very high priority for Government and for the Minister, I can guarantee that.