Tá seacht mbliana ann ó thug an Taoiseach nuair a bhí sé ina Aire Sláinte gealltanas nach mbeadh aon pháiste ag fanacht níos faide ná ceithre mhí le haghaidh máinliacht scolóise a d’athródh an saol a bhí acu. Briseadh an gealltanas sin arís agus arís. Tá a fhios againn anois nach bhfuil an t-airgead a chuireadh ar fáil in 2022 caite chun na seirbhísí seo a sheachadadh. Teip eile é seo ar an Rialtas. Is scannal é atá ag ligean síos páistí agus á bhfágáil i bpian.

In 2017, the then Minister for Health and current Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, made a commitment that no child would be waiting longer than four months for life-changing scoliosis surgery. That promise was broken over and over again. In February 2022, the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, doubled down on the Taoiseach's broken promise when he made the same commitment that children would not wait more than four months for this surgery and he provided €19 million to Children's Health Ireland, CHI, to achieve that. This was another broken promise.

Immediately, both parents and patient advocates had serious concerns that CHI intended to spend this money differently from the purposes for which it was allocated. They first raised their concerns with the Minister for Health and his advisers in March 2022, just weeks after the funding had been announced and he had made his promise. They made clear their concerns that this money would not be spent as intended and they asked the Minister to investigate this issue. They had a meeting with one of his advisers on 11 March but said, "After our meeting on 11 March, we never received a response and all our emails and queries remained unanswered", which is disgraceful. They refused to accept the Government's silence and continued to raise their concerns in June, July and August 2022 but to no avail. Their main concern was that the €19 million that was allocated to meet the target for patients with scoliosis was not going to be spent on its intended purpose but would be spent on previously sanctioned and funded staffing and infrastructure measures that were being rolled out. Shockingly, it took until February of this year for the Minister for Health to order an audit.

Since he was ignoring their concerns, patients, families and advocacy groups reached out to the Taoiseach when he took office, to the same man who made that broken promise seven years previously that no child would be waiting more than four months to receive life-changing surgery. The Taoiseach wrote back to them. What did he say? He said that he would meet the advocacy groups but, three months later, they still have not had a meeting or received even a date for a meeting with the Taoiseach.

Yesterday in the Seanad, the Minister for Health confirmed that the majority of the €19 million in funding intended for spinal services was allocated more broadly across CHI. He said that the €19 million announced did not result in the eradication of the over four-month waiting list by the end of the year "which was deeply frustrating and disappointing to me". It is worse than disappointing and frustrating; it is an absolute scandal. Where is the accountability? These patients, their advocates and their parents reached out to the Minister and his office over and over again. They told him that this money was not going to be spent on the promise that he gave them and their children. They pleaded with him to investigate this matter two years ago. They asked his official to do that and contacted him over and over again but he ignored them, yet the Taoiseach still will not meet with them. When is this going to end? What is the Government going to do to address the ongoing scandal of years-long waiting lists for children with scoliosis and spina bifida who are being forced to suffer in agony with no light at the end of the tunnel? What does the Tánaiste have to say about a Minister who ignored what has been proven true, which is that the money would not go to treat these children and would be spent elsewhere? The Minister ignored the pleas over and over again.

Ar dtús báire, caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil an Rialtas sásta agus den tuairim go gcaithfimid gach aon iarrachta a dhéanamh chun liostaí feithimh na leanaí atá ag feitheamh ar obráidí scolóise a ísliú chomh tapa agus is féidir linn. Is é seo aidhm an Rialtais agus aidhm gach éinne sa Teach seo. Tá an tAire Sláinte ag déanamh gach iarrachta é seo a dhéanamh agus chuir mé sé i bhfad níos mó airgid ar leataobh nó ar fáil do CHI chun go bhféadfaí i bhfad níos mó a dhéanamh. Is léir go bhfuil i bhfad níos mó obráidí ag tarlú anois ná mar a bhí, ach caithfimid níos mó a dhéanamh agus é a dhéanamh níos tapúla. Tá an Rialtas ag coimeád an bhéim ar an mbuncheist nó ar an mbunaidhm sin, is é sin na liostaí feithimh a ísliú chomh tapa agus is féidir linn.

The Government's commitment is to do everything we possibly can, as quickly as we can, to reduce the waiting lists for children waiting for scoliosis operations. That is what the families and the children, above all, deserve and require. As far as I am concerned and as far as the Minister for Health is concerned, we will continue to do that. The allocation of €19 million in funding to CHI was genuinely allocated with a view to significantly reducing those lists. Activity levels have gone up significantly in the past number of years in respect of spinal procedures. Compared to 2018 and 2019, they were up by 34% in 2022 and by 22% in 2023 but that is not enough for those who are still waiting. There was a reduction in the list in 2023 and now there are approximately 70 patients waiting for more than four months for operations. That is not satisfactory and I acknowledge that. There have been issues within the service, as we know, which were unexpected and which have affected capacity. The €19 million has been spent and it is important to say that. It was allocated to both current and capital spending and facilitated the recruitment of more than 200 additional clinicians, a new fifth operating theatre in Temple Street, a new second MRI facility for Crumlin, approximately 20 additional hospital beds and additional resources for Cappagh hospital. Those resources were to be used for spinal services. While there was a reference in the allocation to "other" services also, the money was primarily for children's spinal services.

CHI informed the Minister that its plan would mean that by the end of 2022 the number of children waiting over four months would be reduced to zero. That is what CHI said to the Minister and the Minister funded the plan on that basis. The investment did result in an increase in the number of surgeries performed but the reduction in the waiting list was modest and was nowhere near what was promised. The Minister did engage on this in 2023, contrary to what the Deputy said. He did not ignore the issue but engaged directly with spinal surgeons and advocacy groups. It became clear that the additional resources of €19 million had been allocated far wider than just children's spinal, or even children's orthopaedic, services. He then asked the Department to ascertain exactly how the resources were being allocated across different services but, unfortunately, CHI did not provide this information. The Minister raised the issue with the CHI board but that did not resolve it either. Then he asked the CEO of the HSE to send in the HSE's internal auditors to get this information and that work is nearing completion. However, based on ongoing detailed engagement between the Minister, CHI's new interim CEO and the spinal clinical lead, Mr. David Moore, it is clear that the majority of the additional resources were not ring-fenced for the purpose intended by Government.

I am not sure whether the Tánaiste has just listed out the incompetences in terms of the Minister for Health. Let us boil this down to what happened. The Minister was told by CHI that if he gave it €19 million, it would reduce the waiting list so that nobody would wait more than four months.

The Minister gave CHI the money. Within weeks, the parents and the advocates were telling his office that this money was not going where it was needed. They were begging him to investigate this. They had a formal meeting. They followed up with emails in March, June, July, and August. It is not me but them saying they got no response.

They did get responses.

When did the Minister carry out an audit? He carried out an audit in 2024, two years later. Within weeks, the flags were going up. Within weeks, the parents knew. The parents have enough on their plate. Parents and families from right across this State were outside the Dáil in February. They told us about the pain and the hurt and about patients in my constituency who need these surgeries. The Minister allocated the money - fair play - but the money did not go where it was needed. He was told, begged and pleaded with over and again - I have the emails - and he did nothing, or if he did something, it was completely ineffective because two years later he still does not know where this money has gone. The problem is these parents warned him back in March of 2022 that this money would not be spent in this place. If we had a competent Minister for Health, he or she would go in and say, "You told me you needed €19 million. I gave you €19 million. Make sure that it is spent in the area." It is not acceptable that we are in this position today and that the Minister still does not know where that money went.

An audit, by definition, happens after a particular programme of action has taken place. You cannot audit something within three weeks of the money being allocated. That does not make any sense.

It is nonsense.

That is what the Deputy is suggesting.

We are not suggesting that.

The money is not being spent in the right place.

The whole idea of auditors going in is-----

Does the Government have a plan?

Money has been spent; therefore, we go in and diligently, in a detailed way, find out where the money was spent. We do know that an additional 200 clinicians and so on were appointed and that there is a fifth theatre there. That is not all not directed to scoliosis. Of course, quite a significant amount of that will be of benefit to scoliosis patients. There have been other issues within the scoliosis world, as we know, which have had an impact. The Deputy has not referred to them, but we all know the current unfortunate situation. There are issues in respect of CHI's oversight of this also, but those issues cannot be interrogated without having a comprehensive audit in terms of facts.

No, no, no. That is not it at all.

That cannot be done three weeks in.

Families were telling-----

Please, Deputy.

The most important issue for us now is, through existing capacities within CHI and the hospitals and whatever other means in terms of-----

Your time is up, a Thánaiste. Thank you.

-----external work, to get these lists down as quickly as we possibly can.

We are over time.

Families are in desperate need and the Minister has sat on his hands for two years.