Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

That is part of the problem. Fine Gael has been in Government for the past 13 or 14 years and now we are looking to address these situations. The workforce planning should have been in place well before now. It is not a big surprise that there is such a high number of children with disabilities in need of support. I would say that this Government has failed children with disabilities and their families in County Mayo.

We will not even address scoliosis and the 15-year-old child I have coming in to who, because his operation was delayed, is now being turned away and cannot even get a second opinion. Saying he is not fit to travel is all very well but he cannot even get a second opinion that could be done online or by handing the file over to somebody in England or America. I know this is not the Minister’s portfolio - it comes under health - but I ask him to be compassionate in cases where families are just turned away and told they have been failed and they cannot have the scoliosis operation. I apologise but I could not leave without mentioning this case that I am trying to deal with. This 15-year-old child deserves more.

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