Mary Lou McDonald
Dublin Central · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Now he watches as Paudie, his other son, aged 16, deteriorates with the same disease. He says Paudie does not have weeks to wait. He says, "I can't lose him [too]. He is all I have left." That is what is at stake here. This is urgent. Caithfidh an Rialtas an rud ceart a dhéanamh dóibh siúd a bhfuil Friedreich's ataxia orthu.”
“We know that both scramblers and e-scooters are being used by gangs to distribute drugs, to openly and actively intimidate, and to evade the gardaí and, yet, we heard the Garda Commissioner say that there would be no chance of pursuit training until next year because of the EU Presidency. I found that really shocking.”
“Their hopes were very high that the HSE drugs committee would finally approve Skyclarys, but those hopes were to be dashed. The committee decided against approving the drug. Instead, it referred it to a rare disease review group. In other words, one committee passing the buck to another committee.”
“This cruel condition moves relentlessly, ravaging their bodies and their lives, yet the system stands still, putting up obstacle after obstacle, forcing them to wait and wait as time slips by. This drug was approved by the EU Commission back in 2024. Two years on, it is available in France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain and Czechia.”
“So we are clear, it is not that all of this is frustrating for those living with Friedreich's ataxia; it is actually terrifying for them. I met Emily three or four weeks ago and I was speaking to her again on Tuesday. Even in that short time span, she told me that her swallow and speech had disimproved. We are on the clock here.”
“There is someone the Tánaiste knows very well in the Public Gallery. She is the unstoppable and heroic Cara Darmody. Cara has just completed her third 50-hour protest outside the Dáil, calling for real action for children and young people waiting for an assessment of need.”
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“Electricity prices are forecast to rise again and the Taoiseach's own Ministers warn of increases of up to 9% in the months ahead. We saw repeated hikes last year and now more are coming. More than 300,000 households are already in arrears on their energy bills, yet the Taoiseach's response is not to act but to comment, not to intervene but to observe. It is as if the Government is a spectator in this crisis rather than a government responsible for fixing it. Over 750,000 households rely on home heating oil, and their bills have doubled in a matter of weeks. Last week, my colleague an Teachta Pearse Doherty spoke about a young working couple, both in employment, who have gone three weeks without heat because they cannot afford it. They did everything right.”
“Can we extend a very warm welcome to Margaret Loftus, who is in the Public Gallery and is appearing before the justice committee today? The Taoiseach has published his spring economic forecast and it tells a very clear story. The Government expects the State's surplus to grow from €5 billion to over €9 billion, meaning billions more flowing into the Exchequer. The Government is taking in billions more, yet people cannot afford to heat their homes. People cannot pay their electricity bills. It is as though there are two different realities in this country: one in the Taoiseach's forecast of growth and surpluses and another at kitchen tables across the land, where there are cold homes, mounting bills and real fear. The energy crisis is not easing; it is intensifying.”
“Let me tell the Taoiseach this. He has shown us again exactly who he is. I have asked him to address the lived reality of people from Cabra, Sheriff Street, Seville Place and East Wall. I have named all of the neighbourhoods and told the Taoiseach about the conditions people are living in. They are like something from Strumpet City . I could not describe to the Taoiseach how bad the living conditions are. There are families, women and men, who week after week and month after month paint over mould, scrub mould off their walls and who panic because their children have asthma or other medical conditions because they live in conditions that are not acceptable. Does the Taoiseach know that it is the norm in the inner city not even to have room to have a kitchen table?”
“To add insult to injury, along come the Government's councillors to hit people with rent hikes. Now that takes a brass neck, arrogance and disrespect. I want the Government to know that people are not taking this lying down. It is not just the hauliers and the farmers who are standing up. These families and communities are standing up too and they are demanding these rent hikes be scrapped. They are demanding maintenance for their homes. They are demanding respect.”
“There is damp, mould, broken windows and doors and crumbling walls. Entire blocks of flats in this city are riddled with dampness. If the Taoiseach went to places like Sheriff Street, Seville Place, Ballybough or East Wall, or the flat complexes of Clarion Quay, Chancery House, Island Quay and Longboat Quay, he would find that out for himself. Families are crying out for very basic and long overdue maintenance but they now believe they might be fighting a losing battle because the Government does not listen. People are fobbed off again and again and this has been going on for decades. Dublin City Council is not meeting its responsibilities and that is a fact. Central Government is not funding Dublin City Council to provide a decent, acceptable standard of housing and that is a fact too.”
“Government after government - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - have left them behind. They pay their rent but they are left to live in conditions that frankly you would not believe exist in the year 2026.”
“These are families stretched to the limit. They are workers, carers and pensioners. They are hit hard by the cost of fuel, gas, electricity and food but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors decided to squeeze them even more. The Taoiseach might not know this but us Dubs are very house-proud and none of us more so than those from my home neighbourhood of Cabra and those from the inner-city communities I am proud to represent, especially people who live in complexes of flats. These are the finest of people. They go out to work every day, they look after their children and their neighbours' children, they hold their communities together and they do everything to keep the show on the road. Many of them are out the door to work from 5.30 a.m. They are very resilient people because their communities have faced real hardship.”
“Go raibh maith agat. The Government may have survived the confidence motion yesterday but the Taoiseach should be under no illusion. The Government has lost the confidence of the people because of its arrogance, because it does not understand their lives and because it refuses to listen. Yesterday, even as one of its Ministers of State walked away, the Government still would not listen and indeed we got hours of backslapping and self-congratulation. However, self-praise is no praise. This is a Government that makes things harder for people. There are increased school transport fees, exam fees are back for the leaving and junior certificates and there are eye-watering rents. Why have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors hiked up rents for Dublin City Council tenants? Some people have seen their rents double.”
“They promised cheaper energy. Bills have gone up and they took away the energy credits. They promised support for renters and then changed the law and threw renters to the wolves with the potential massive hikes for new tenancies. There is then that promise from the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery, which was broken again and again. These are the hallmarks of a Government with no vision, no direction and no leadership at a time when our country desperately needs all of those things. To Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and their Independent backers I say their time is up. They must listen to the voices of those decent working people who were out on the streets peacefully demonstrating and calling them out.”
“Trust between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Independents and the people is shattered. Big promises made at the general election were broken one after the other. They promised income tax cuts every year. They broke that promise in their first budget. There was not one red cent for working people. Developers, landlords and banks were looked after though. They promised affordable childcare. Where is it? Parents are still waiting. They promised to abolish student fees and then increased them. They promised to abolish the means test for carers but at their pace that will take decades.”
“That cut would be gone with the next price spike. There is no removal of the excise or carbon tax still on home heating oil. There is no real relief for households. The Government completely ignores carers and people with disabilities for whom fuel is essential, not a discretionary spend. Today, as Government Members back-slap, congratulate and flatter one another, just know that beyond their bubble, people see a Government that is out of touch, refusing to listen or act in their interests, and unable to understand their lives. They have had enough.”
“-----it turned its back. Incredibly, it then escalated the situation through its rhetoric and refusal to engage, and then it threatened people, including with talk of sending in the Army. That is not leadership. Even after all of that, the pressure and the protests, the Government come back with more half measures, not the comprehensive package that it brags of today. A small cut in excise, which does not make fuel affordable-----”
“We only have to look to the Government's grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry to see how very far from the truth that is. It will do deals, when it suits it, with anyone. It will negotiate when it suits it, but when ordinary, decent people raised their voice-----”
“-----but people everywhere now are calling for real action and real leadership. The Government does not provide that. On the contrary, its attitude over the past week was the arrogance of this Government writ large and its message to the ordinary people whom it sneered at was like it or lump it. The Government demeaned peaceful protesters. It insulted them, and it insult them here again today. It refused to meet them because it decided that doing so was beneath it, it seems.”
“They know that they are paying more and getting less. They know that life has become unaffordable. They know that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents are not on their side. Now people are demanding real measures. Yes, it has been the farmers, the agricultural contractors, the hauliers, the bus companies and others who have led the charge-----”
“There was absolutely no action on home heating oil and no meaningful support for workers. We told the Government clearly that its half measures would not cut it. Remember, we also provided it with an alternative that would have made fuel affordable and would have supported people, but the Government walked away. It sent the Dáil home for 20 days while people struggled. That was 20 days while costs surged and families were left to cope alone. Taoiseach, I wrote to you-----”
“They live it in the supermarkets, at the petrol pumps, when the bills land on the kitchen table, as workers head out the door in the morning wondering how they will afford to fill their car, as families ration heat and decide which rooms they can afford to warm, and as carers and people with disabilities face the choice of heating or eating. That is their lived reality. What did the Government do as this pressure built? Well, it sent out bills to parents to increase school transport fees. It reintroduced exam fees for leaving cert and junior cert students. Prices continued to rise. The warnings came, too. The Government was told, but it ignored every last one of us. Its half measures three weeks ago only tinkered at the edges. A modest cut in excise was wiped out almost immediately.”
“Let us be honest - all of this did not start last week. The seeds were sown in the budget in October, a budget of €9.4 billion that still managed to leave people worse off. In that budget, the Government claimed that the cost-of-living crisis had passed and it turned its back on reality. It was a budget that looked after developers, corporate landlords and the banks, but left workers, carers, people with disabilities and families behind. The Government pretended everything was fine while people knew it was anything but that. Since then, things have only got worse. People feel it every single day.”
“This is a Government that at every turn acted only to inflame an already desperate situation. There is global instability. The illegal war by the United States and Israel against Iran has driven oil prices upwards and that war must end, but it is the Government's own arrogance, its lack of judgment, its lack of any empathy that have left people with no conclusion other than this: its time is up.”
“-----from people who have abandoned the Irish people, from those who have stood idly by while workers, families, communities and key sectors, the backbone of the Irish economy, struggled hard. This is a Government that tried to short-change people with half measures, one that sent the Dáil home for 20 days in the middle of this crisis and refused and refuses to listen.”
“Is é seo bun agus barr an scéil. An bhfuil muinín muintir na tíre tuillte ag an Rialtas seo? Tar éis míonna de chostais ag ardú, neamhaird a dhéanamh ar na foláirimh, buiséad a thréig oibrithe teaghlaigh, cúramóirí agus daoine le míchumas, is léir nach bhfuil. Rinne an Rialtas an ghéarchéim seo níos measa. Tá an caighdeán maireachtála ag titim agus tá daoine faoi bhrú ollmhór. Tá an Rialtas seo ag teipeadh. Níl muinín na Dála seo tuillte aige. Today, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents ask us to vote confidence in their Government, in their judgment, in their competence and in their ability to protect people in the crisis. It is a very brazen ask-----”
“The name of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, a child catastrophically failed by Children's Health Ireland, CHI, was very sadly joined by another name last weekend. That name is Chloe Maher, from Coolock, a 23-year-old who died on 4 March last. Her death was caused by health complications from her untreated scoliosis. Chloe never got the treatment she required when she was in the care of CHI and then she aged out. Chloe was just 14 when Simon Harris promised that no child would wait longer than four months for spinal surgery, but while she waited and waited, Chloe's condition worsened and like too many other young people, and in the words of her heartbroken aunt Orla, they are left until it is too late to operate and then they vanish from the system because they age out. Will there be an investigation-----”
“They have been left high and dry. I put it to the Taoiseach again: we have given him a specific measure in respect of home heating oil that affects hundreds of thousands of households.”
“Níl an Rialtas ag déanamh faic. Níl sé ag éisteacht ar chor ar bith. We could not be clearer in our position. For the avoidance of any confusion, the Government's half-baked measures are not enough. We will not support measures that leave 750,000 households high and dry. They are real people, real families, who today now worry about how they will pay their home heating bill. The Taoiseach has no answer for them. We had the answer. We provided him with the opportunity to do the right thing, yet he failed to do so. We see a rerun of the Taoiseach's politics again. For all the auld guff and his performative efforts, he does not care about working people. In the budget he spoke about, he spent €9 billion and not a shilling for working people - not a shilling for the people who do not get the supports he claims.”
“Remember that almost 500,000 households already could not afford electricity or gas bills, yet with his eyes wide open the Taoiseach will push many households who rely on home heating oil into desperate situations - more stress, more pressure, more hardship. Tá teaghlaigh a bhraitheann ar ola teasa tí tréigthe ag Fianna Fáil agus Fine Gael. D'fhág an Rialtas na teaghlaigh seo i gcruachás gan aon fhaoiseamh. Níl sé maith go leor. Households who rely on home heating oil matter. They need support, but the Taoiseach has thrown them under the bus. How could he think it is good enough to treat these families in this way? It is not right. It is not fair. Sinn Féin has provided the Taoiseach with the solution: to completely remove excise duty and strip out carbon tax from home heating oil.”
“For all the lip service, for all the tea and sympathy, yesterday, they had a real chance to make a big difference for hundreds of thousands of households hammered by soaring prices, and they chose to leave them behind. Previously, I have told the Taoiseach about a 94-year-old woman on a fixed income whose heating oil bill doubled in days. She is now faced with paying an extortionate bill or being cold. I have also told the Taoiseach about the mother who received a quote for her fill of oil and did not know if she would have enough money left to get that week's shopping. These are the people the Taoiseach has abandoned. What has he to say to them today? Yesterday, he told them that they were on their own.”
“It was a 2 cent reduction per litre and a lousy €20 off a fill of oil that has skyrocketed to around €1,700. That is what families are dealing with in the here and now. That took some neck, all the more so given that this lousy €20 will be taken back when the Government increases carbon taxes in a couple of weeks. Last night, the Taoiseach had the opportunity to change course and to do right by these households, but instead he dug in. Sinn Féin proposed an amendment to the financial resolution that would give proper relief on petrol and diesel, completely remove excise and strip carbon tax from home heating oil, but the Government voted that solution down. It would not budge. Clearly, households being able to afford to heat their homes is not a priority for Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil. Their actions yesterday revealed their true priorities.”
“We welcome three people, the Rev. Karen Sethuraman, Ben Collins and Claire Mitchell, who gave a fascinating presentation today on Protestant perspectives on constitutional change. They are very welcome here today. The measures the Taoiseach brought forward yesterday to address soaring fuel prices are not good enough. He has short-changed working people, people with little or no support, working every hour that God sends and still struggling to get by. He short-changed them on diesel, he short-changed them on petrol and he completely abandoned the 750,000 households who rely on home heating oil. Most of these families do not receive the fuel allowance. They have seen the price of home heating oil double in a matter of weeks. What was the Taoiseach's offer to them?”
“When will we see a step change from Government to deliver change and bring the determination required to eliminate violence against women and girls?”
““Violence against women and girls is the shame of our society and we must do everything possible to end it.” These were the words of Natalie McNally's heartbroken brother Declan yesterday after Stephen McCullagh was sentenced to life in prison for her horrific murder. It is a sharp reminder of the dangers women face. Today violence against women and girls is at epidemic levels across Ireland. The first government strategy was delivered 15 years ago this month. Progress is far too slow - a judicial system that does not work for victims, court cases taking too long, support services underfunded and overstretched. Despite Jennie's law receiving Cabinet approval last October, we still do not have a register of domestic abusers to protect women from repeat offenders.”
“These are families and people who are already to the pin of their collar in a cost-of-living crisis. Where is the wisdom of that? Not alone is it stingy and mean and detached but above all else, it reveals the Government's political priorities and, by God, those are not the working men and women of this country.”
“The Taoiseach is always so shocked and outraged when it is a case of families and working people needing support. That is such an "outrageous" thing to say. That is so "unsustainable". It is always so "unaffordable", even when the Government coffers are full. Of course, he takes a take a very different view when it is developers or big bankers or big corporate interests. Mind them every day of the week, but when the families come knocking on the door and when they are under pressure, that is a different story. How very telling and how very Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. It is not wise to leave 750,000 households who rely on home heating oil in the lurch. It is not wise to short-change workers, carers and people who have to get out and about to do their business.”
“These are people who have to get to work in the morning, carers who have to get to the people they look after and people with disabilities, who, it should be remembered, were left €1,400 worse off in the Government's budget. We will therefore move an amendment to the Government's financial resolution to deliver the maximum excise cut possible for diesel and a similar cut for petrol and to completely remove excise and strip away carbon tax from home heating oil. That is the difference between the Taoiseach and me. I believe that when families are put to the pin of their collar and when the Government can intervene, it should - no delays, no excuses, just action.”
“Once again when it comes to the crunch, the Government sells working people short with weak half-measures but that is Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil all over. The Government's measure on fuel allowance is paltry. Extending the payment by four weeks will not make a dent in these massive fuel price hikes. Chuir Sinn Féin iachall ar an Rialtas bogadh. Faraor, tá beartas Fhianna Fáil agus Fine Gael maidir le díosal agus peitril i bhfad róbheag i gcomparáid le cad atá ag teastáil. I gcás teaghlaigh atá ag brath ar ola theasa tí, tá siad tréigthe. Beidh Sinn Féin ag brú le haghaidh fíorghníomh anocht. These soaring fuel prices are a real emergency for households requiring real action, not the half measures the Government presents today. We will not watch on as the Government lets people down again.”
“However, its standout failure is on home heating oil. It has literally abandoned the 750,000 households that rely on home heating oil. The price of a fill of home heating oil has doubled in a matter of weeks. A measly cut of 2 cent a litre is an insult. It amounts only to a €20 reduction on a fill that now costs around €1,700 - a drop in the tank. Of course, in any event, the Government will take this back from people anyway when it hikes up carbon tax in just a few weeks. It gives with one hand, only to take back with the other. It could have removed, and should completely remove, excise on home heating oil. That would provide these households with a meaningful relief but instead it chooses to leave them high and dry.”
“The Government watched on as fuel prices spun out of control. It has sat back as working people struggle to heat their homes and fill their cars. When households needed a government of action, they got this do-nothing Government. Clearly its plan was to ride this one out. Its package today had to be dragged out of it. Still the Government comes to the table with half-measures. It could not bring itself to provide the maximum support that people need. The reductions in motor fuel do not go far enough. The Government has it in its power to deliver the maximum excise cut possible on diesel, a similar cut for petrol and to remove excise entirely from home heating oil. Motorists have been hammered for a month at the pumps and the Government could have done more, but instead it chooses to short-change people.”
“We are four weeks into a crisis that has seen fuel prices skyrocket and only now has the Government brought forward limited measures to respond. It has taken relentless pressure from Sinn Féin and massive public anger to force it to act.”
“This awful event happened nearly four years ago. The families continue to fight for truth and justice. They should not have to fight to secure a meeting with the Minister. Will he commit today to meeting with the families without further delay?”
“Last week, I, along with my colleagues Deputies Pearse Doherty and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, met the families of those who lost their lives or were injured in the Creeslough tragedy. They have two requests of the Government. First, that it establish a public inquiry into this tragedy and, second, that the Minister for justice meet with them. They have questions that are not related to the criminal investigation and that they want to put to him directly. This meeting and, indeed, a public inquiry can take place without compromising the investigation, as confirmed by the former Garda Commissioner. The Minister's predecessor, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, met with the families, but that was a year and a half ago. It is only right that the Minister should meet with them now and listen to what they have to say.”
“The Government's failure to act to assist families, workers and motorists as fuel prices skyrocket is completely untenable, unacceptable and unsustainable. We need to have accountability for its inaction as a do-nothing Government. More to the point, we need to hear concretely when and how the Government eventually proposes to act. We need statements and questions and answers on the most pressing issue at the moment for Irish families.”
“It is not a permanent measure but it is a very necessary emergency measure. This policy of mañana and wait and see is a luxury that people in this House might enjoy but it is not a luxury that working families have.”
“The only actions that the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government has set out so far are proposals to increase taxes. The Minister has reiterated that position again. I do not know whether there is anybody sitting here among us who cannot turn on their heating or cannot fill their car. I do not think that is an experience anybody here on the Government benches or anywhere else has but it is the reality for too many families and for too many working people. I am simply asking the Minister and we have given the Government the mechanism to do it. We have given it the answer and we have given it the solution. The legislation will be moved this afternoon by Deputy Doherty. The Government simply has to lift this and, as an emergency and necessary measure, cut the taxes on petrol, diesel and home heating oil.”
“We will be moving the necessary legislation this afternoon; the Government just needs to implement it. No more excuses, no more beating around the bush and no more delay because it is unacceptable for the Government to let another week go by without intervening to cut fuel prices. Tá teaghlaigh buailte go dona ag arduithe ollmhóra ar phraghsanna an bhreosla. Tá Fianna Fáil agus Fine Gael as láthair, ag diúltú cabhrú leo. Caithfidh an Rialtas gníomhú anois chun praghsanna peitril, díosail agus ola teasa tí a laghdú. The choice is clear. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can continue to sit back and allow households to be hammered or they can act today to immediately cut soaring fuel prices. Sinn Féin has put the legislation on the table to make this happen and it is ready to go. All the Government has to do is pick it up and implement it.”
“Households are struggling with an unrelenting cost-of-living crisis, and now this rapid increase in fuel prices only makes things far worse. What is the Government's response? It says that it is monitoring the situation. It seems things are not quite bad enough. The Government is waiting to see. How out of touch can you get? People cannot wait as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael twiddle their thumbs. People need them to act. Up to 65% of what people pay at the pumps goes to the Government in taxes. The Government hauled in an estimated additional €38 million in taxes and levies due to these price hikes in just one week. It is blindingly obvious what it needs to do, namely cut taxes on petrol, diesel and home heating oil. This would immediately bring down prices. The Government could do this today.”
“How bad do things have to get before the Government helps? How high do fuel prices have to go before it acts? This is an immediate crisis for working households right across the land. While the Government dithers and delays, we are hearing from people who are in real trouble. These are people afraid to turn on the heat and who cannot afford to fill up their cars. I spoke to one woman who said that she spent an hour just staring at the quote for her home heating oil and trying to figure out how she could pay for it and still have money for the food shop. I also spoke to a father who commutes a long distance to work and who is already struggling to pay the rent. He is now worried how he will keep the car on the road in order that he can get to work.”
“We are now two weeks into a crisis in which Irish households are being hammered by skyrocketing fuel prices. The cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil has spun out of control, yet Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are absent. This is a do-nothing Government that is sitting on its hands and refusing to help while workers, families and motorists are fleeced. People are under massive pressure right here and right now, but the Taoiseach says it is too early to act. He says that the Government will keep the situation under review. My God, I have never heard anything quite so detached or disconnected. I will do the review right here and now. In many places, petrol is hitting €2 a litre, diesel is hitting €2.17 a litre and home heating oil is close to €900 for half a fill. These are unaffordable, crushing prices.”
“The Government committed to equal partnership and to working with parents to get the terms of reference right, and that must be delivered - no railroading, no stonewalling, no whitewash, just transparency, truth and accountability. That is what the children affected and their families deserve. Those children waiting for surgery need the Government to match its promise of change with action on capacity, resources and funding. They do not need lip service or excuses; they need their operations.”
“This demand was finally secured in a meeting with the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, last November. However, four months on, parents and advocacy groups have real concerns about the Government backsliding on its commitments. Delays in producing the terms of reference and a lack of clarity regarding the role of the facilitator have stoked real worries. The Minister has now appointed a facilitator for the scoping exercise that will inform the terms of reference. We need to be very clear this evening. This must be a full public inquiry. It cannot be directed by Simon Harris or, indeed, by the Minister. It must be shaped primarily by the experiences of those impacted by the failures at CHI.”
“It should be published immediately, and parents are entitled to know what it contains. Is drochtheist ar Rialtas i ndiaidh Rialtas é an teip ar leanaí le scolóis agus spina bifida. Ní mór don iniúchadh poiblí ar Sláinte Leanaí Éireann muinín na dtuismitheoirí a bheith aige. Caithfidh sé a bheith dírithe agus múnlaithe ag taithí agus riachtanais na leanaí agus na dteaghlaigh atá buailte leis seo. The death of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt last July was a tipping point. His heartbroken parents endured not only his loss but also the revelation that he had been removed from the surgery waiting list without their knowledge or consent. Through their grief, Gillian and Stephen along with other parents fought for a public inquiry into Children's Health Ireland.”
“This includes the use of unauthorised springs in surgeries on children and the carrying-out of unnecessary hip surgeries on children as young as seven. Children were failed catastrophically and public confidence shattered, not only in that organisation but also in the Government's basic ability to oversee the provision of children's healthcare. These failures sparked major reviews into practices at CHI, and it is disgraceful that families were left to learn of the completion of phase 1 of the Nayagam review in a Sunday newspaper last month even though the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, had been briefed days before and the HSE had received the completed report last September. The Minister hiding behind technicalities and refusing to publish phase 1 of the report is just unacceptable.”