Tom Clonan
University of Dublin · Independent · Ireland
“It is appalling; you could not make it up. However, as this is a very grave and dark thing, they raised these concerns by way of protected disclosures in February 2025. Here we are, 18 months later, and no action has been properly taken. Those protected disclosures have not been processed about a child safety issue.”
“I thank the Senator. The Adult Safeguarding Strategy Bill that I hope to introduce fills the gap that exists in Irish legislation around adult safeguarding for our elderly citizens and for all of us who at some point in life will need care. This Bill is consistent with what the Government has set out in the programme for Government.”
“They told me one of them was informed of a child sexual assault or the potential for one - even a rape of a child - and under the guidelines, this requires mandatory reporting, so they set about reporting it to An Garda Síochána and Tusla.”
“A woman came into the clinic and expressed concerns - and I am sorry to use this language here - that she had discovered her spouse - her husband - was accessing child pornography images and films through his devices. These are crime scenes. This is the sexual abuse and rape of children.”
“This should be dealt with with energy and urgency, because all this talk about process is not child-centred. It is administration-centred and it is a classic HSE tactic to cover up, deny and delay grave matters. I want to know why this particular manager is pushing back on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.”
“I thank the Minister of State for reading out the statement on behalf of the Minister, Deputy MacNeill. None of these remarks are directed personally at the Minister of State, but to be honest, ChatGPT could have written that response. In it, the Minister, Deputy MacNeill says she and the HSE cannot comment on individual cases.”
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“With no disrespect to the Minister of State, that response is wholly inadequate. Saying, "We do not comment on individual cases" or, "This is a matter for the relevant authorities" is a rhetorical device that is used by the HSE, the Department of Health and previous Ministers. These are the systemic failures identified quite clearly in the Grace case. When people like Louise and Caitlin renounce their anonymity and come forward, as many rape victims do, such as in the recent case of Nikita Hand, for example, we commend them for coming forward because they want the issue to be addressed. It is not good enough for the Minister or the HSE to say they cannot address it. They must address this individual case.”
“We are not instructed by solicitors; we instruct them, and the Minister is currently instructing solicitors, senior counsel and barristers to fight the family in question – a single mother and her child, who was sexually assaulted while in the care of a State-provided carer, Avista. The Grace case, we were told, must never happen again. It is happening right now on the Government’s watch. Its members have all been informed. I appeal to the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, to take the necessary action and provide the support and immediate care that Caitlin and her mum need.”
“When I was talking to Louise about this, she told me it was enough in anyone's lifetime as a mother for her daughter to tell her she has been raped in the care of others. That is enough to be going on with in one lifetime, but to have the resources of the State mobilised against her, to have the State have highly paid legal teams engage in lawfare and accuse her of lying and of a conspiracy theory, and for the State to withdraw all treatments is retaliation and failure. That is precisely what happened in the Grace case and precisely what is happening today. Therefore, I ask the Minister of State to communicate with the Minister responsible for disabilities, Deputy Foley, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill.”
“Part of the reason she is being denied them is the legal action Caitlin's mum has been forced to take to vindicate her rights. If I were knocked down by a drink driver and suffered broken limbs, a broken shoulder and a fractured skull, would the Minister of State deny me medical treatment because of the potential for the criminal prosecution of the driver of the car? He would completely disregard any such process and treat the injured party. Therefore, any legal steps the family in question have been forced to take in regard to the sexual assault and rape of Caitlin Hassan are completely irrelevant. To deny her the medical supports and therapies set out in the report is to add moral injury to physical injury.”
“I have the full consent of Louise and Caitlin Hassan, and this is a matter that has been covered on the public record in all the national newspapers and on RTÉ, the national broadcaster. All the parties have been named and all the detail has been published, and this is the reason we are here. Here is a family that has been completely failed by the State. To get the help and support they need, many victims of sexual assault have to renounce their anonymity. On the publication of the report on the Grace case, the Minister, Taoiseach and Tánaiste repeatedly asserted such a case would never happen again in the State. It is happening to Caitlin Hassan right now on the Government’s watch. The multidisciplinary team and Avista published a comprehensive report on the supports Caitlin needs, and she is being denied those.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I want to raise here again the case of Caitlin Hassan. Caitlin's mum, Louise Hassan, is here in the Visitors Gallery. Caitlin Hassan was sexually assaulted while in the care of Avista healthcare. Since the assault she has had no supports and is currently at home with Louise. Caitlin is deeply traumatised and cannot dress or get out of the bed. She is a young woman who has been completely failed by the State in exactly the same way as in the Grace case.”
“Again, that link with Rawan getting the pharmacy scholarship to Trinity College demonstrates the family is already making contributions to our society, such as working with the Red Cross. I thank the Minister of State for his support. If he could convey this to the Minister’s officials, I would really appreciate it.”
“I thank the Minister of State. Jehad and Rina al Sabah are actually out of Gaza. That is the most critical aspect of this. They are now in northern Egypt and therefore some of the barriers and the obstacles to their liberation from what is effectively a ghetto, a concentration camp created by the Israeli military, have been removed. I am heartened to hear of the precedent of Palestinian children and family members being brought to Ireland under that medical category of visa. I think it is called a stamp 3 visa, though I might stand corrected on that. Given the precedent that exists, if we bring Jehad and Rina here, it will save Jehad's life. He is 57 years of age. He might see his children again and in time, God willing, Inshallah, his grandchildren. This is something we can do for him and the family.”
“I know that the Israelis, as they move through the territory, are carrying out what are euphemistically referred to in the media as field executions. They are murdering boys and men. We can help the Sabah family. We can reunite them. This is something practical we can do for a family - reunite them. In time, I hope that Rawan gets out and then Ahmed, so that we can save this family. I do not mean to sound melodramatic or trite but when we watch a film such as "Schindler's List", we all understand the meaning and impact of saving people. We have within our gift the opportunity to save this family. I know the Minister of State will urge the Minister to consider this request favourably and assist the family because they are trapped in that facility. They need consular assistance to facilitate this visa.”
“It is femicide in the wholesale slaughter of women and children, which is infanticide. It is genocide. That is not a criticism of the Jewish people, because the Israel Defense Forces are a multi-confessional force. The Israel Defense Forces are made up of Druze, Bedouins, Muslims, Christians and Jews. Criticism of the genocidal actions of Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces is not a criticism of Judaism. It is not an antisemitic statement. It is the recognition that, before the world's eyes, genocide is taking place on an unprecedented scale in this century. What can we do? The Government, including the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, has shown great moral leadership in calling out these genocidal actions. We might throw our hands up and ask what we can do. Walaa's brother Ahmed is trapped there.”
“Walaa's younger sister, Rawan, is only 20, which is the same age as my daughter. She is trapped in Gaza, among all the destruction there, with her brother, Ahmed. Rawan has just got a scholarship to study pharmacy in Trinity College Dublin. We hope there will be a pathway for Rawan to come and join Walaa. Will the Minister consider, facilitate and expedite a visa on medical grounds for Walaa's dad, Jehad, to be treated? I imagine, notwithstanding its severity, that his medical condition is probably something that can be routinely treated in Ireland. We have heard so much about what has happened to the people of Gaza. At this point, 14,500 children have been slaughtered there. It is de facto a genocide. It is urbicide, with the destruction of towns, cities and villages.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming along to take this Commencement matter. I want to raise the case of Jehad Sabah. He is a 57-year-old man. He has managed to get away from Gaza and all of the destruction there. He is currently being held at El Arish hospital in North Sinai in Egypt. Jehad's daughter, Walaa Sabah is here. Ahlan wa sahlan, I welcome her to this House. Jehad is suffering from a serious cardiac condition. He is only 57. He has been told that El Arish hospital does not have the specialists to treat him. He is effectively detained there, along with Walaa's mum, Rina, who is 51. The ask is that the Minister for Justice facilitate a visa for them to come here to be reunited with their daughter, Walaa, who works with the Irish Red Cross in Ireland. The Sabah family have a very intimate and close connection with Ireland.”
“A total of 72% of the budget goes to service providers whereas 72% of the budget should go to disabled citizens themselves to give them the autonomy to live their lives to their fullest potential and to self-actualise and participate in the social, economic and cultural life of the State. I hope we can work together to progress these matters. The situation is bleak for disabled citizens, but I want to be solutions focused and I have solutions in the legislation that I have drafted. Unlike other jurisdiction, we are not a very polarised Parliament and hopefully we can work together constructively to progress these matters. I wish the Minister of State the very best of luck in her portfolio.”
“As part of their corporate social responsibility, they provided me with the services of a legal team for two years. They examined every aspect of Government policy and every Bill, up to and including the report that former Ministers, Senator Rabbitte and Deputy O'Gorman launched in December 2023, all the consultations with disabled persons organisations, as well as service providers and all the best practice legislation in other jurisdictions. They have come up with a solution for the personalised budgets problem here. Luckily, in the previous Seanad, 27 Senators from all parties - Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Green Party, Labour, Sinn Féin - cosigned the Bill. I am hoping that now it is restored to the Order Paper to begin to progress that and of course, I welcome amendments from Government. This is actually a solution.”
“It is coming to its Final Stage on 2 July 2025 when I have a Private Members' business slot. I hope the Minister of State can support me on that. her predecessor said that the Government would support the Final Stage of the Bill. I hope if I can speak to her and the Minister, Deputy Foley, that perhaps they might introduce it in the Dáil, progress it there and enact it. That would remedy most of the problems that disabled citizens are confronted with and that all of us in due course will. During the three years of my tenure, I have also drafted a much more complex Bill on personalised budgets. I have restored both Bills to the Order Paper. For this Bill, luckily, I was given the support and assistance of one of the largest corporate law firms in the country and internationally, Maples Group.”
“How can we allow that executive leadership team and the board to oversee the transition to the new premises? That will create an even bigger risk incident with the children who are being dealt at paediatric services in Tallaght, Connolly, Temple Street and Crumlin hospitals. I hope the Minister of State can communicate that to her colleagues at Cabinet. Ireland is a country where we do not have a rights-based approach. Within the lifetime of this Government, I hope the Minister of State can assist me. During the previous Government, I brought a disability rights Bill to the Final Stage that would rectify that situation for disabled citizens and give them the legal right to treatments, therapies and supports that they would enjoy in other jurisdictions.”
“Nobody knows if their child is one of those others or not. They are not being consulted. The families want a full public inquiry. I read the report with great interest, albeit I am speed reading it today. I must say that there is a big difference between the newspaper headlines on the substance of this report and its actual content. There is a tendency within the media to blame maybe one individual, but this is a systemic whole-of-organisation problem. I have no confidence whatsoever in the executive leadership team or the board of Children's Health Ireland. The report is very clear on that stating that in a fast moving environment where there is change and where it is dynamic, they have failed completely in their governance, oversight, clinical decisions, management of theatre and the procurement and decontamination process.”
“They told me that if we were to put the hundreds of children on our scoliosis waiting lists onto an Airbus to Boston, Vancouver or the UK, there would be an international medical incident and scandal. They would ask what country would allow children to deteriorate to this extent. The reason is that those children do not have the right to these supports and interventions. The report on CHI shows that the people who come last in the list of concerns of the institutions and organisations that are charged by the State to look after disabled citizens are disabled children and their families. Since the publication of the report, I have had contact from dozens of families who are completely in the dark. Aside from the three children who are mentioned in this report, within whom devices were implanted, there are at least 27 other cases.”
“We have hundreds of children who are waiting for scoliosis surgery and who have been allowed to deteriorate to a point that is not seen in other jurisdictions. I previously raised the case of Mikey Henry from Ballina. He has a scoliotic curve of 102°. Little Daniel Collins in Kerry has a scoliotic curve of over 90°. That is a right angle. Imagine allowing a spine to deteriorate to that extent. Before Christmas, in advance of the publication of this report, I spoke to paediatric spinal surgeons from Phoenix, Arizona. They were here at a conference and reviewed the case histories of children on the scoliosis waiting lists. They have never seen children deteriorate to that extent.”
“Everybody, from the Taoiseach to the Attorney General, advocated and campaigned hard for a wording that would have set back the rights of disabled citizens in this country by decades. It also would have set back the rights of women. Some 99% of unpaid carers are women and girls. My daughter, at 16, was toileting her 18-year-old brother as a result of the lack of personal assistant support and interventions. On the subject of respite, we have had no respite in 23 years. The experience of disability in Ireland is, I am sorry to say, a negative one, and unnecessarily so. That brings me to the publication today of the HIQA report into governance issues at Children's Health Ireland, CHI, on the use of implantable medical devices. This is a dark day for the Republic.”
“We are the only jurisdiction in the European Union where disabled citizens do not have the legal right to therapies, supports, surgical interventions and personal assistant supports. We have a polity here that is, I am sorry to say, pathologically ableist. That was writ large last year during the care referendum when the Government and all the political parties with the exception of one campaigned on a "Yes" vote that would give constitutional expression to the idea that the family is the exclusive and primary responsible agent for the care of disabled citizens. That is the opposite of a rights-based approach. It is the opposite of the principles and concepts set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”
“Since the austerity measures following the financial crash, the circumstances of disabled citizens have deteriorated by every measure over the past 15 years or so. One in four of our homeless citizens is disabled. People with disabilities suffer from social isolation, loneliness, suboptimal medical outcomes and a lack of therapies and interventions. The Minister of State knows as well as the rest of us that thousands of children cannot get an assessment of need. Even if they can, it is just a piece of paper. Those assessments might as well be photocopied because the therapies or supports that are set out as required for disabled children will not be available. Ireland is an outlier in the European Union in respect of disabilities.”
“The Minister of State is welcome to the House and I congratulate her on her appointment to this important portfolio. According to the World Health Organization, everybody in this room, everybody outside and everybody in the world will have a disability for an average of between eight and ten years of their lifespan. For most of us, it comes at the end of life. Unfortunately for disabled citizens in Ireland, particularly children, teenagers and young adults, their rights are routinely and cruelly not vindicated. This is the situation that the Minister of State has inherited. As a family, we have been living with disability and the experience of having a disabled adult son for 21 years.”
“They are completely in the dark. They are hearing nothing from CHI. There has been no consultation with them. We need a full statutory inquiry into this. Could we have the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, in to the House for a debate as to whether she can really have confidence in the executive leadership team and board of CHI with regard to the move to the new children's hospital? This is another inflection point.”
“It really makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Yet again, Ireland is shown to be a pathologically ableist state. I am finding it hard to read the document because of what is contained within it but also because of the language used. In the limited time available to me, I will say that, when you read this report and see the repeated failings of the executive leadership team and board of Children's Health Ireland, you could not have confidence in their being charged with the move from Connolly Hospital and the hospitals at Crumlin, Temple Street and Tallaght to the new children's hospital. This scandal is not about the billions spent on the hospital; it is about the children and the families. The families whose children are on waiting lists or who have been operated on in this manner are very upset today.”
“The HSE is either unable or, more likely, unwilling to provide her with the care package with which she would be provided as a matter of course in Germany and with which all disabled citizens throughout the rest of the European Union would be provided. At the moment, it owes the care provider she is using €55,000. She is a young woman with a complex disability, and while doing her course away from home she has to contend with the stress, uncertainty and fear of having a debt of €55,000 because the HSE will not, or cannot, discharge its functions as an agency of the State. Also on disability matters, I want to raise the issue of the HIQA report on the independent review of governance of Children's Health Ireland. The report was published at midday today and I have started reading it.”
“I echo the sympathies offered to Micko's family. As for the assertion that Kerry has had the best football team in history, I will just say “five in a row”. As someone who used to go to my grandmother in Killorglin, Kerry, in the 1970s, I remember the great rivalry between Dublin and Kerry, and Heffo's Army. However, the question of which football team was the greatest ever is still out for the jury. I want to raise a couple of issues, the first being the situation that confronts Ms Evelyne Cynk. She is a disabled young lady from Germany who has come to Ireland to follow her dream of pursuing a masters degree in creative writing in UCC. She is a very talented artist and has been facilitated by UCC by having been given accessible accommodation. However, she is being failed, again, by the HSE.”
“Senator Craughwell asked if we would allow the transit of munitions to Myanmar or Islamic State. It would be unlikely because there is no logistics chain that provides for that. In the 1970s we allowed the Cuban military to use Shannon Airport to send troops and munitions to fight in Mozambique. That is not something we should be proud of and nor should we be proud of our complicity in what is happening now at 38,000 ft. I fully support this Bill. We need to be clear that a genocide is taking place and we know about it. We will be asked what we did and what action we took. There is very little we can do, but this is something we can do. I hope the Minister will support this Bill and it will be enacted. I appreciate the Leas-Chathaoirleach's patience. I thank the Minister for hearing me out.”
“These are 1,000 kg high explosive devices fitted with joint direct attack munition guidance systems. We can imagine what 1,000 kg of high explosives will do in one of the most densely populated urban environments on the planet. What will it do to families who have no shelter other than tents? They might have a thin strip of canvas if they are lucky but they are more likely to use plastic fertiliser-type bags. Not only are these munitions passing through our airspace, and not only are we granting exemptions for the carriage and transmission of these munitions, but under an international agreement, Eurocontrol, we are also paying the air navigation and onward navigation charges. The Irish taxpayer is actually paying for the transit of US military aircraft through our airspace. Has there ever been reciprocity?”
“The first principles of all of the moral philosophers - Plato, Aristotle, Kant - say the thing that makes us human and distinguishes us from other creatures is that we have the capacity to do what is right. All of the moral philosophers say that therefore, as human beings, we must do what is right. We cannot be passive bystanders. Notwithstanding the difficulties Senator Craughwell pointed out, if we can refuse an exemption we should. There is a categorical moral imperative to do so. We can look at the logs chain for some of the weapons that have been transited through Irish airspace. When such a volume of weaponry is supplied, it does not go by surface vessel. It is transported by air because that is the most secure environment in which it can be delivered. The Americans have delivered guided bomb unit mark 39s and mark 84s to Israel.”
“A cigarette pack-sized explosive in a car bomb at the point of detonation generates a heat signal of several thousand degrees centigrade for only a flash. However, those within range of that will suffer horrific burns. A shockwave will pulp internal organs and shatter bones. The shockwave can also cause decapitation and limb separation, which is why we see appalling images from Gaza of infants who have been decapitated being held up. Further out from the point of impact, there will be horrific shrapnel injuries. We cannot see these aircraft flying at 38,000 ft, but that is what they are carrying. They are carrying the methods and weapons of destruction that cause this suffering and killing in Gaza. Senator Ruane mobilised moral philosophy in terms of the epistemic knowledge of wrongdoing.”
“More recently, in the inquiry under way into the Omagh bombing, the families of the 29 people who were killed, as well as the unborn babies, and the 220 people injured want to know where the bomb, time-powered unit and bulk charge came from and where it was placed into the vehicle. They want to know through what territory it transited. It came from the Republic and transited north to Omagh, where the vehicle was left. The families want to know from the Government what we knew and what the primary intelligence agency of the State, namely, An Garda Síochána, knew. The people in Gaza and families of those who have been killed will want to know where all of the high explosives that have rained down on them, killing 48,500 Gazans and mutilating and disabling tens of thousands more, came from.”
“The vehicle would have to be sent to forensics to find out the make and model. High explosives are extremely powerful. After the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of 1974, where 34 Irish people were killed and 300 injured, one of the primary questions was where the time-powered unit, explosives and bulk charge had come from. We know they came from British forces. The time-powered unit was one of a standard British army design. The families of the victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings want to know where the high explosives and time-powered unit came from, where they were assembled and how they got to Dublin and Monaghan.”
“Based on that set of circumstances, the vast majority of weapons, munitions and dual-use equipment bound for US forces in the Middle East and for Israel will pass through Irish-controlled airspace. We know that for a fact. I have a flight radar app on my phone. I can see that, on a 24-7 basis, there are aircraft at 37,000 ft transiting through our airspace carrying dual-use weapons and equipment bound for Israel. The United States has spent something like $300 billion providing Israel with weapons and munitions since the appalling attacks of 7 October perpetrated by Hamas. I want to put section 2 in a context that Irish people can relate to. If put into a vehicle in order to make a car bomb, a piece of high explosives the size of my mobile phone or a cigarette packet would, when detonated, make the car unrecognisable.”
“Minister, fáilte isteach agus comhghairdeas on your new portfolio. I want to address section 2. I commend my colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group on bringing forward the Bill. I am proud to support it. Section 2(1)(a) seeks to oblige the Minister not to provide exemptions for aircraft where an application has been made with respect to military or dual-use items destined for the State of Israel. Let us consider the geography involved. Ireland is the largest and busiest air corridor between north Africa, the Middle East and the United States of America. Some 75% of all air traffic between the United States and Europe, north Africa and the Middle East goes through Irish-controlled airspace.”
“We benefited from those for our youngest child. We are very appreciative of that. I know the Minister will continue that great work and great legacy over the next five years. As Senator Clifford-Lee said, if it could be reduced to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government, we would be consistent with best practice throughout Europe. I know the Minister is committed to that. I wish her the best of luck in that endeavour.”
“At the age of 18 months, one of my children's developmental milestones started to go backwards and he was diagnosed with a complex neuromuscular condition. The crèche did everything in their power to include him in the heart of the crèche. Without having to be prompted, they made all of the necessary adjustments to make it completely accessible and inclusive for him. In other areas of our journey we have had to fight for everything. That was the one area where we did not have to fight. The early childcare providers' representative groups are pushing for greater professionalisation in that area and more support. It is something that I support and it is consistent with our family's experience. I wish the Minister well. One of her predecessors - maybe it was Brian Lenihan - introduced the first measures that gave us subsidies.”
“I know this might sound facile but there is a huge amount of social pressure on women to stay at home and look after children on their own. That is actually unnatural, however. What happens in preschool and early childcare and all of that actually replicates that gemeinschaft model of looking after children which we had in our past and it is a more natural and rounded way to do it. I have become aware that a lot of crèches around the city and around the country will not take babies. They will not take children under one year of age. That really puts people under pressure. People get grandparents involved, if they are lucky enough to have grandparents who live close enough, to provide assistance Our experience of childcare, as a family, has been absolutely superb. That is echoed by some of my colleagues.”
“It is a uniform system across the school campus whereby children and babies come in and have those sentient interactions during the day. To be honest, when one looks back at our history as human beings, with the gemeinschaft of agrarian economies and our Celtic background, when a baby was born, one had an extended family to look after it. One had all sorts of people to give advice and support. It is only in the latter half of the 20th century that people, and it is mostly women, are bringing a child home from a maternity hospital into a house somewhere in a suburb and they are completely on their own. That is really tough. They do not have anybody to hand the child to when the child becomes upset or if they need a break. They do not have somebody to tap them on the shoulder to say that they know what that cry is, it is wind, and so on.”
“In the awful calculations, we were just about able to have four children at €3,600 per month, but if it is €1,300 per month for one child, what does one do with the rest one's salary? One squanders it on food, I imagine. In Dublin, the cost per child is €1300 per month; in Berlin the average is between €150 and €400 per month; in Paris the average is €400 per month; in Madrid it is €100 to €300 per month; in Brussels it is €400 per month; and in Copenhagen it is about €200 per month, and that is the case throughout the Nordic countries. They are societies which have decided that it is in the strategic interests of their economy and well-being to support childcare. I would favour an école maternelle system like they have in France.”
“It is very tough for families and particularly for women. My colleagues here pointed out that in Ireland this is often constructed as a very gendered issue. We saw some of that rhetoric around the care referendum last year, where it was constructed as being the responsibility of women. It is not; it is an all-of-society issue. If we want to continue our economic success given the new challenges which confront us, we have to do everything in our power to encourage women to get into the workplace. To that end, one can look at the cost of childcare in other European cities. In Dublin at the moment the average is €1,300 per month per child. It is almost like a one-child policy. I do not know who could afford that.”
“Those crucial years from birth to preschool are actually the most critical period. As Senators Comyn and Clifford-Lee have said, the sentient interactions they have with adults, male and female, at that point, where they may be coming from households that are chaotic, under pressure or stressed, have a hugely positive impact. We should see preschool and childcare not as a commodity or a for-profit exercise but as something that should, ultimately, be the responsibility of the State. According to the OECD, Ireland has the second-highest childcare costs in the OECD. I have four children who came in quite close succession and, before they went to school, we were paying €900 per child per month. It was a monthly bill of €3,600 just to be able to go out to work. One would have to earn €7,200 to generate that amount of income.”
“The Minister is very welcome to the House and I thank her for being here. I want to make a few general points about early and preschool education in Ireland. We are both former teachers. I was a primary school teacher back in the 1980s, briefly. In fact, I would say that I have not really worked since. It is a very tough job. Philosophically, we all accept that the State should provide education for children at primary level, from junior infants and senior infants right through, and at second level. The State supports tertiary and higher education. State involvement in preschool and early learning is a "no-brainer", to quote George Lee. The Minister and I and everybody else here knows that by the time a child is 18 months old, all of the software has been installed and they are hardwired to be good citizens and to self-actualise.”
“-----and to push back against them getting their treatment. I am asking the Leader that we have a debate with the new Minister with responsibility for children, disability, integration, youth and so on, Deputy Foley, to try to see whether there is-----”
“Every single person in this room has the same frustrations I experience with the HSE. They are recidivists, they are incorrigible and they will not do what they are charged to do as agents of the State but they will-----”
“They are screaming out for help. Do you not understand that? Excuse me, I am upset. Daniel Collins is from Tralee, County Kerry and Mikey Henry is from Mayo. This is a countrywide problem. It affects every single person in this House. All Members have constituents who are being failed in this manner. The reason they are being failed is Ireland is the only jurisdiction in the European Union where disabled citizens do not have the legal right to surgical interventions, therapies and supports. We are the only one. Even in Trump's America these people have a legal right to treatment, but they do not have it here. Surely we can use our collective will to enact legislation to vindicate their rights. That will then compel CHI and the HSE to do what we are asking them to do.”
“Like Mikey Henry, whose case I raised her last week with the permission of the parents, who attended, Daniel Collins is struggling for breath. His kidneys are being affected so he is having renal problems. His breathing is compromised. Like Mikey Henry, and as was the case with the my son, he is at risk of becoming inoperable. I am sorry to say Mikey Henry, whose case I raised last week, has been deemed inoperable. That is in this country. For shame. I am going to come in here every week. These parents are begging for the cases to be raised and brought into the public domain because that is what you have to do in Ireland to get any attention. I am very frustrated by it and I am very upset by it. I absolutely reject the idea that anybody whose case we raise here somehow has their privacy or confidentiality compromised.”
“Can we start again? I raise the case of a 14-year-old boy in Tralee, Daniel Collins, who, like thousands of other disabled children in Ireland, is not receiving the support, therapies or surgical interventions he needs to grow and thrive as a young man. He is 14 years old, he has autism and cerebral palsy and, since August 2024, he has been categorised as an urgent case for spinal surgery. His scoliotic curve has now increased to beyond 90°. If that continues, it will render him inoperable. For the last long eight months, over the autumn, the election, Christmas, January, the inauguration of Donald Trump and the arrival of spring, through all those rites of passage that family have been left completely in the dark with no review other than to say he is an urgent case.”
“I will not be impugned in this way. If anybody thinks that vindicating or advocating for the rights of a disabled child will somehow embarrass them in the future, that is an absolute disgrace. I call on you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh to withdraw the formula of words you have just used there and have them struck from the record, because I will not have my contributions here framed in that negative way.”
“I implore the Minister of State to please communicate to the Minister that there is an opportunity to assist this family. If he and I can do something, let us do it. We can devolve authority to the HSE and to CHI but we cannot devolve responsibility. We are in a position to do something for Penny and Mikey. Let us do it. We could deal with many of these issues at committees. We need to have the committees re-established. Again, that is not a criticism of the Minister of State. We should prevail upon all our colleagues in the House to resolve the issues and get committees up and running, so we can really get to the heart of these issues and matters.”