Children's surgery audit letters
Mary Lou McDonald pressed the Taoiseach for clarity on an audit of children’s surgery and asked how many letters had issued and how many children were involved. The Taoiseach said no one was stonewalling, argued the audit should finish first, and said piecemeal updates would only increase parents’ anxiety.
The anxiety of these parents cannot be overstated. As the Taoiseach has correctly noted, the initial sample between 2021 and 2023 involves children between the ages of one and seven. These are very young children, and the idea of any small child being operated on unnecessarily is extremely traumatising for their parents. Their anxiety has been added to by the Government's absolute lack of clarity and the Taoiseach's refusal even today to answer basic questions of information. How many letters have been issued and how many children are involved? The parents concerned want to know this. The system wrote to these parents. It raised this issue with these parents with regard to the children in these families. Having raised the issue, however, no clarity is given. No reassurance has been given. This is the truth. Can we start the process of clarity today? Will the Taoiseach simply tell me how many letters have been issued and how many children will be recalled? The Taoiseach ought to know that at this stage.
Comment on this
If Deputy McDonald does not mind me saying so, she is being somewhat disingenuous. Nobody is stonewalling and no one is refusing to give information.
Comment on this
I thought the obvious thing to do, and we may have this sooner than Deputy McDonald might think, is to wait for the audit report to be published and given to the Minister. That is logical. Otherwise, all Deputy McDonald is asking for is drip-drip and bits of information here and there-----
Comment on this
If I may, I did not interrupt.
Experience tells me that when we ask someone to do an external audit independent of politicians and Government, we should just let them finish their work and have the totality of their work available for us to assess, and then take action based on that. Of course, that audit has to be shared with the public, the parents, in the first instance, and the patients. There is always follow-up of children who have surgery for this particular condition and that follow-up would take place right into their teenage years, the ages of 14, 15 and 16.
Comment on this
I am aware of that. The Taoiseach is refusing to confirm how many letters issued and how many children are involved.
