The audit report on hip surgeries on children is expected to be ready by the end of next week, Micheál Martin has said.
He was responding to opposition criticism over the handling of the controversy into allegations of unnecessary hip dysplasia surgery.
The criticism follows the leaking of a draft audit report and the delay in the final report.
Social Democrats acting leader Cian O’Callaghan said the Taoiseach had stated 10 weeks ago that the report was in its final stages, but “parents of children involved received no further information”.
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Mr O’Callaghan said that in the Dáil on Tuesday the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health “weren’t even able to tell us how many letters have been sent to families by Children’s Health Ireland”.
“These letters are not connected to the audit. We are told they’ve been sent to families whose children were operated on over the last 15 years, and the Government is entirely ignorant about how many families may even be involved. That is really staggering,” the Dublin Bay North TD said.
“You’ve accused opposition TDs of trying to politicise this issue. Would you also accuse parents who are desperate for information of the same thing, because we are trying our best to get information for them.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald alleged Mr Martin had “misled the Dáil” that the letters were about routine follow-up, because they “specifically refer to an early recommendation from the audit”.
She said she believed he knew the numbers of additional letters sent out based on the audit, but Mr Martin rejected this as false.
Mr Martin said “it’s horrendous if anything wrong was done,” but “we need to find out the full facts. That’s what we want to do”.
He said that once a number was announced for the letters sent to parents “of course, people draw all sorts of conclusions”.
He said: “The important point is, I think, is to get the audit published.”
Families whose children received hip surgeries up to 15 years ago are being sent letters by CHI in advance of the publication of the audit report.
Last July it was announced an independent review into hip surgeries in children would be carried out to examine if the developmental dysplasia of the hip surgery was required in all cases.
The review is looking at a random, anonymised sample of dysplasia of the hip surgeries, between 2021 and 2023, at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) hospital sites, as well as the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Cappagh.
It has been examining whether the criteria used for surgical intervention varied between the three hospitals and if surgery was required in all cases.
Earlier, the mother of a child on whom bilateral hip surgery was performed is calling for reassurance for parents and confirmation from hospitals about whether surgery was required.
Áine Gladney-Knox, who was a Sinn Féin candidate for the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency in the last general election, said it would “break her” as a parent if the surgery had proved unnecessary.
She told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that her son Archie was diagnosed with hip dysplasia when he was six months old and had bilateral pelvic operation in Crumlin Hospital on April 19th, 2022.
Post-surgery Archie had to be readmitted to hospital and undergo a blood transfusion and further surgery.
“He just screamed and screamed and screamed. That child went through absolute hell. He really, really went through a horrendous time,” she said.
She received a letter from Children’s Health Ireland, but it was not until she heard about the issue from party colleague Pearse Doherty that she realised its implications.
“And that’s when I actually sat at my kitchen table and cried my eyes out because I was like, if he is one of the children, after what he’s after going through, like it would actually break me as a parent,” she said.
Ms Gladney-Knox said she was not at all reassured by the letter. If anything, it had made her more anxious. It had raised more questions and made her question herself and her judgment as a parent.
“We really need these answers. This has been a kick in the teeth. We want to know how long this is going to take. I want answers for my child,” she said.
“They have to get this right for all the families and all the children that are involved.”
