It is now four days since the CHI scoping inquiry was published and the serious concerns of the families have not been addressed. Worse, they have been ignored. I want to reiterate why the families have these concerns. Their children, who have scoliosis and spina bifida, were repeatedly failed by the health service and the Government. Critical surgeries were delayed, sometimes for years. In some cases the delays were so long that the children became inoperable. Children were left in excruciating pain as the curvature of their spines reached dangerous levels. For some, their tiny bodies were twisted so much that their internal organs were crushed and damaged. They had difficulty breathing, were unable to sleep and spent nearly every waking moment either uncomfortable or in pain. Children missed out on school and time with friends, and their parents had to watch them suffer, helpless and unable to do anything to alleviate their trauma. Some families suffered the biggest loss imaginable with the death of a child.

The word "scandal" can sometimes be overused in Irish politics but the word feels inadequate to describe what these children and their families have endured. It involved repeated failures that lasted for years and potentially thousands of children. This is why the Tánaiste must get the public inquiry right. After everything these children and their parents have gone through, surely it is the least they deserve. What has been proposed this week simply does not cut it. Surely the Tánaiste can see that. The proposal is for an inquiry primarily to be held behind closed doors, which uses 2019 as the starting point when we all know this goes much further back. In 2014, for example, a report found serious failures in special services including neurology. Three years later, in 2017, the Tánaiste made the infamous promise to these families and their children that no one would wait longer than four months for surgery. The events leading up to this and the Tánaiste's broken promise will now be erased from the record of the inquiry. This is wrong and the Tánaiste knows it.

The Government has one chance to get this inquiry right. These children and what they have suffered cannot be airbrushed out of the record, which is what the families fear most. They have no trust in the Government, in CHI or in the proposed inquiry. Will the Tánaiste ensure their concerns are addressed? Will he ensure this inquiry is not primarily held behind closed doors? Will he expand the terms of reference so it begins before 2019 and, crucially, covers the time when he was the Minister for Health?

If we are to have an honest debate around this it would be helpful if we listened to each other. It would be very helpful if Deputy Rice had listened to what the Taoiseach said in the House yesterday when this issue was raised. It is not helpful to the many parents who engaged with Mr. Farrell's scoping inquiry. He is a very eminent senior counsel, which I am sure Deputy Rice would accept, who has done a very comprehensive piece of work. He has listened to so many people and read so many documents. It is he, not me and not Deputy Rice, who has come to the view in his independent scoping inquiry. Deputy Rice would probably be asking a lot more serious questions if we decided to ignore the independent scoping inquiry and what the independent senior counsel has said.

It is utterly wrong, and legally wrong, to suggest that a commission of inquiry is all or mainly held in private. The Taoiseach as the head of the Government was very clear yesterday on this issue and let me make it very clear again. The Leader of the Opposition yesterday rightly, accurately and fairly acknowledged that there may well be parents and others who wish to co-operate with a statutory inquiry in private, as is their right. There may well be, and will be, others who will want to give their evidence in public as, in my view, is their right. The mechanism of a commission of inquiry allows for this latitude. It allows for parts of an inquiry to be held in public and for parts of an inquiry to be held in private. We have to respect both because there are families who have gone through hell and back and the most unimaginable agony. Some of the families are known to people in the Oireachtas because they have felt the need to speak out and speak up, as is their right. There are other families whose names none of us know and they have as much right to be heard.

We have got to get this structure right. What we have said very clearly is the lengthy scoping inquiry report, which is about 134 pages or thereabouts, from Mr. Farrell has been published. There will now be engagement on the terms of reference through the Minister for Health with the advocacy groups. This should happen. The terms of reference will then have to be put before this House. This House has to ratify them so everyone here will have a role. We have to be very clear in giving effect in this process to what the Taoiseach said yesterday, and I am now paraphrasing him, on the latitude the chairperson will have in terms of the timeframe. There should be no rigidity around 2019 or anything like that. This is about getting it right. We know, and those of us who have been in the House for quite a period of time know too, that getting the terms of reference right matters and getting the chairperson right matters, as does making sure there is ongoing engagement. The trust of the advocacy groups in the chairperson will be absolutely key.

The Government has agreed, and has been crystal clear, on the need for a statutory inquiry. We put in place Mr. Farrell who, I am sure Deputy Rice will accept, is completely independent. He is a very robust and competent senior counsel. We have published his report for all to see and we will now see that there is engagement. The Department of Health will work closely in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, and there will be a call for input from advocacy groups on the terms of reference. I really do want to say that. The final terms of reference will come back to the Government for approval.

I read Mr. Farrell's report from start to finish-----

Me too.

-----and I spent the past couple of days talking to parents and families who are furious. They say this is worse than they feared. They feel unheard. They said this has the potential to be a farce. The Tánaiste has to listen to them. I also listened to the Taoiseach yesterday, who said there would be more consultation. Meanwhile, the Minister for Health said she accepts the recommendations in full. Which is it? Will there be more consultation and change to what is proposed or is the Government accepting it in full? The Government has to get this straight because we are hearing different things from the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health. Yesterday the Taoiseach said there will be discretion around the timeline. Will this be locked into the terms of reference? Is it guaranteed? Are we going to look at the period when the Tánaiste was Minister for Health back in 2017 when he made the commitment?

Families feel like an afterthought and they want more transparency. The Tánaiste knows that the vast majority of the families pulled out of the scoping inquiry because they were not given the information they wanted. The report mentions eight reports. Three of them remain unpublished and have not been provided to the families. They have said they need to see them. Will the Tánaiste change tack? We need to go back further than 2019 and this primarily needs to be held in public as the families demand.

When we talk about families we have to accept there is a diversity of views. There are absolutely some families and advocacy groups-----

The majority.

Allow me to speak. They have a view that this should be held fully in public.

There are also some who do not believe that. No matter what the number is, everybody has a right to be heard. When we are talking about the medical information of a person or their child, they have a right to be heard in a way that works for them. We do not need to be adversarial on these issues. People can choose to be if they want to, or we can try to get a flexible structure in place based on the expert legal opinion of a very eminent senior counsel.

We are very clear. We have published the Remy Farrell report in full. It is important to do that from the perspective of transparency because he was asked to do a job and we should not impugn his reputation and the job he did. We will then have engagement with the Attorney General's office and, as we said very clearly, there will also be engagement with the Department of Health and the advocacy groups on the terms of reference. The terms of reference will have to come back.

The Deputy is making fair points that I think merit consideration as to how we ensure that latitude is reflected because I agree about the rigidity around 2019. There is also the idea of making sure that those who wish to give evidence in public can do so too. I agree with that as well, but we have got to have those conversations about how to do this right. I do not believe it is beyond the ingenuity of this House to get this right. I share the Deputy's view that it is very important to get the structure of this right.