When it comes to children with scoliosis and spina bifida, we have seen broken promise after broken promise. In 2017 the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, gave a clear commitment to children with spina bifida and scoliosis that they would not have to wait longer than four months for life-changing surgery. The report published today by the Ombudsman for Children is scathing and devastating. The report is a litany of failure and broken promises. After the promise was made in 2017 by the then Minister, Deputy Harris, the child named as Ivy in the report waited five years for her life-saving surgery and many more children have gone through the hurt, anguish and pain that she went through. When will the Government stop making excuses? That is what is happening. When will it stop breaking the promises it made to those children? When will we get to a point where no child with spina bifida or scoliosis has to wait longer than four months for the life-changing surgery they need?

No child should have to go through the experience Ivy went through, which has been documented. The failures in her care and the length of time it took for her to receive the necessary operation was documented in the report of the Ombudsman for Children that was published earlier. The Government is working hard to address the issue in order that other children will not have the same experience. Last year, an additional €19 million in capital and current funding was committed to a plan to address the issue, which led to a 34% increase in the number of operations carried out. Some 509 operations were carried out last year for people with scoliosis or who needed other spinal interventions. The Government is focusing on it as we want to ensure others do not have the traumatic and unacceptable experience Ivy had.