The government must urgently publish its audit into those children wronged by unnecessary hip surgeries, according to Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice.
Deputy Rice, who’s the party’s health spokesperson, said:
“I first raised the issue of children enduring unnecessary hip surgeries with Taoiseach Micheál Martin back in March.
“Nearly two months later we are still none the wiser about what went on.
“A draft audit of surgeries in three children’s hospitals, between 2021 and 2023, has been in the public domain for months.
“That audit found a huge proportion of surgeries in two of those hospitals were potentially unnecessary.
“There have been repeated questions about this scandal in the Dáil chamber, but no further answers – the government can’t even tell us when the final report will be published.
“Today we found out that the families whose children were operated on up to 15 years ago are receiving letters – this suggests that the draft findings of the audit are going to be upheld.
“We are dealing with a scandal of nearly unparalleled proportions – it is not credible that there is no timeline for the publication of this audit.
“The government must make a statement on when this audit will be published – failing that, it must explain its lack of urgency on what is a truly seismic issue.
“Are we facing the appalling vista of potentially thousands of children enduring unnecessary hip surgeries for the past 15 years?
“How deep does the rot go?”
May 13th, 2025