A Senator has said that a child has become “permanently paralysed” while waiting on complex spinal surgeries in Ireland and said that it was an affront to children living in pain that the Minister of Health had not bothered to attend the discussion on the matter.
“I have tabled this matter to ask the Minister for Health to comment on the fact we have 150 children with limb deformities and serious spinal issues who are not being operated on. I know of at least one child who has become permanently paralysed since we raised this issue prior to Christmas,” Senator Tom Clonan told the Seanad yesterday.
He said that in a phone call with of the parents of children in need of spinal surgery the previous night, he could the child in bed in pain in the background.
“She could not go to school, I could hear the mother trying to explain to the child that her daddy was on the phone to a Senator to see if he could get help for them,” he said.
“It is of great interest that neither the Minister nor one of his representatives has turned up to take a Commencement matter. Is that a precedent? It is an affront to this House and to the 150 children who are in pain as we speak,” he said.
“What makes those children different from other Irish citizens? As I have said before, it is because they are disabled. Because they are disabled, they are allowed to suffer on in pain,” he said.
Addressing the junior Minister Kieran O’Donnell who was there to address the Seanad on another matter, Senator Clonan said: “Can the Minister of State imagine a child becoming permanently paralysed on the Government’s watch, despite it having been made aware of this matter before Christmas?.”
In a passionate contribution, Senator Clonan became visibly angry at what he saw as the failure of state in its duty towards children who have complex surgical needs and who are on waiting lists for treatment.
He refused to take his seat until, he said, the Minister came to address the questions raised about children in need of complex spinal surgery, and the House was subsequently suspended.
**BREAKING** Extremely angry Senator REFUSES to leave Seanad unless health minister arrives to explain why a child became permanently PARALYSED as a result of suspended waiting lists….
Senator @TomClonan alleges the reason why these children have been left waiting is due to… pic.twitter.com/hkraXcUswU
— TheIrishInquiry (@IrishInquiry) January 31, 2024
He said that the failure of the Health Minister or his representatives to come to the Seanad to deal with the matter of children on waiting lists for complex spinal surgeries was an affront to those who were suffering – and “absolutely emblematic of the contempt in which they hold disabled children and their parents”.
“The core issue is that two of Ireland’s most experienced spinal surgeons came before the Joint Committee on Health last year and called out Children’s Health Ireland, CHI, in respect of Temple Street and Cappagh. They said that we have a cohort of children who are not being treated within the therapeutic window,” Senator Clonan said.
“That makes us outliers in both European and international terms. It means that children are undergoing unnecessarily complex spinal surgeries. In that context, my own son was an anaesthetic risk going in for his spinal surgery to the extent that he had to be manually extubated by the anaesthetist or he would not have survived intensive care.”
He accused Children’s Health Ireland, the Minister and the Department of putting families through “pain and trauma”.
“Why are these 150 children being left on waiting lists without surgery? One of them has become permanently paralysed. Is the Minister of State listening to what I am saying? A child has become permanently paralysed,” he said.
“That is completely and utterly unacceptable. The Minister cannot even come in here and take a Commencement matter. He is showing contempt for the House and its processes.
“As I said, we have children with limb deformities that are not being addressed,” he added, saying the children were “left in pain”.
“I am not going to leave the House until the Minister comes here. I am not going to quit this position until the Minister comes in or sends one of his representatives. What is happening is completely disrespectful and is emblematic of how this State treats disabled citizens and disabled children, who are the most vulnerable people in our society. It is an absolute disgrace,” he said.
Senator Clonan said he had “tabled a Commencement matter to get an informed response from the Department” on the issue – and turning to school students in the gallery, he said: “You go home and tell your parents what a circus this Seanad is. Tell them how we treat disabled children in this country. This is a civics lesson on how parliamentary democracy is abused.”
He said he wanted the Minister “to know that we have 150 disabled children in need of complex spinal surgery. Children like my son are being allowed to deteriorate because of a vendetta by the board of CHI against two senior surgeons who raised concerns about the mistreatment of Irish children.”
“We have it within our gift to resolve this problem today but the Minister is refusing to do so,” he said. “It is a rhetorical device to say that this is a matter for CHI. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, can give authority to CHI or the HSE but he cannot cede responsibility. The Minister is responsible for everything that happens or fails to happen in his Department, and these 150 children are on him. He did not show up here today. Nobody from Government, apart from the Minister of State who was here to take a different matter, showed up,” he said.
“Another Minister of State came in to respond to questions about listed buildings for An Post but no Minister will not come in to respond to a Commencement matter on children with disabilities. That is because children with disabilities and disabled citizens in Ireland are considered to have less human value than other citizens. That has been my lived experience and it has been the experience of these families,” Senator Clonan continued.
“One of the parents rang me last night, and I could hear his child in bed in pain in the background. She could not go to school, I could hear the mother trying to explain to the child that her daddy was on the phone to a Senator to see if he could get help for them.”
Acting Chair of the Seanad, Victor Boyhan said that it was “unusual” that the the Minister had not submitted a response, even a written response, to circulate to Senator Clonan.
https://twitter.com/TomClonan/status/1752707424765796641
Senator Clonan was applauded by families in the The Scoliosis Advocacy Network who said his passion “spoke volumes” .
On behalf of myself , my son and the entire cohort of families we represent @SBH_PAG & @scolionetwork we'd like to thank @TomClonan for speaking up for those he so eloquently descirbed as the most vulnerable in society … our disabled children. Your passion speaks volumes https://t.co/g4JSvthQGM
— Amanda Coughlan (@mandacoughlan) January 31, 2024
Minister Stephen Donnelly said he was at the Health Committee at the time.
Not alone was I at the Health Committee at the same time as the Commencement was taken, but you were told that yesterday – long beforehand @TomClonan You were also advised about the Ministers of State. Minister Naughton was in the Dail (at the same time). https://t.co/2r86wKFP5M
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) January 31, 2024