We are in a time of unprecedented financial prosperity. Never before have we had the opportunity to deal with so many inequalities and issues where the quality of life of people can be improved nor have we been able to have the issue of health care as one of the benchmarks whereby we can judge what progress we are making as a country.
It was brought to my attention some time ago that young children have had considerable difficulty in gaining access to heart treatment. One can only speculate as to the enormous pressure and trauma on children and their parents in living with this experience. A voluntary group was established some time ago in Kilkenny to give young children requiring heart treatment a chance to live a more normal life. This group, the Children Heartcare Action Group, has had enormous success in gaining access for some children to heart operations in the Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. In other words, a voluntary group based in Kilkenny appears to have had more success than the Department of Health and Children and the health board in sending children to England for heart surgery.
This group recently met the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, and indicated to him that additional funds would need to be made available to deal with the local regional demand for this treatment. The Minister and his officials should hang their heads in shame at this development and at the revelation that a local voluntary group can make more progress than the officials in the statutory bodies.
The Children Heartcare Action Group grew out of a trust fund which was set up to send a one and a half year old little boy from County Kilkenny to England for an operation. The response to the fundraising event was magnificent and, within weeks of the fundraising committee gathering the money, the boy was sent to England to correct the hole in his heart. This young boy had been languishing on a waiting list for a considerable period and there were serious concerns that he would not survive while waiting for the procedure to be performed.
There have been other examples which I could mention but will not, where the group has been successful in sending young children for heart operations which help them live more normal lives. One can only think about the huge difference these operations and procedures have made to these children, their parents and relatives – in other words, to those fortunate enough to be supported by this group.
I raised this motion to highlight the need for the Minister for Health and Children to investigate fully the reasons Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, is unable to cope with referring more children to England for this type of heart surgery and to remove the scandalous bureaucracy which is obviously preventing our health system from dealing with this problem quickly, especially in these urgent cases where heart operations are required. Is it right that a local fundraising group is necessary before some of these children receive heart operations rather than risking their lives on a waiting list? It is unacceptable to be told that we cannot organise our priorities as a society to help very young children overcome problems which can be resolved with treatment. I hope the Minister for Health and Children will be able to give some satisfaction regarding this problem and that the waiting list for children who require heart operations can be rapidly reduced.