I raised with the Taoiseach last week the case of 13-year-old Liam Dennehy Quinn because it is an emergency. As the Taoiseach knows, Liam has been waiting for more than six months for an urgently needed spinal surgery. He has been in hospital now for more than six weeks. He cannot leave because the severity of his scoliosis puts him at risk of choking episodes at any time. His family was told in November that he needed urgent intervention.

Pamela and Liam wrote to both the Taoiseach and me at the weekend stating that Liam needs a scan immediately to review his deteriorating condition. He has been waiting so long that he will now likely need two surgeries to correct his spine. He needs that surgery this week, not at the end of the month. He needs it this week. What steps has the Taoiseach taken to guarantee that Liam will get the scan, the orthopaedic care and the surgery that he needs urgently?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The first thing is that I did say in this House last week that Liam had a consultation in April. That was information given to me by the Department of Health. I want to clarify that for his mum. My understanding is that there was a review of Liam's case as per his complex care pathway in early April following his attendance with his consultant in late March. I do want to clarify that information, which was wrongly given to me last week. My understanding is that Liam and his mother, Pam, met with his consultant in mid-April. I have been actively asking after Liam and about the very difficult situation for him and his mum at a very stressful time. My understanding is that preparation for his surgery continues and that the surgery is due next week. Obviously, these are clinical decisions in terms of the scheduling of the surgery, but I am informed that preparation for his surgery is ongoing and it is due next week.