No child should be left to suffer in pain while waiting for medical treatment – Senator Nicole Ryan

Sinn Féin Senator Nicole Ryan has said that no child should be left to suffer in pain while waiting for medical treatment.

Speaking in the Seanad in support of the Scoliosis Treatment Service Bill, Senator Ryan highlighted the case of a child whose parents must pay €300 per month for private physiotherapy because public services are unavailable, all the while she has been waiting for months for a medical consultation.

Senator Ryan said:

“No child in Ireland should be left to suffer in pain while they wait for medical treatment. Our healthcare system must be held accountable for the promises it makes to patients and their families.

“For too long, children with scoliosis have been ignored, left on ever-growing waiting lists, and forced to endure unimaginable pain. This is not just a failure of our health system; it is a failure of governance, of policy, and of our collective responsibility to protect our most vulnerable citizens.

“The amendment I have proposed will give the Minister of Health the power to set legally binding waiting targets, ensuring no child is left to wait indefinitely. These targets are 10 weeks for a first outpatient appointment, and 12 weeks for an inpatient appointment.

“These are not arbitrary figures. They were originally set in the Sláintecare report, which outlined how Ireland could provide a world-class healthcare system. And yet, we have failed to meet even these basic standards.

“By making these waiting times legally binding, we will finally ensure that the HSE and CHI are held accountable. This bill is about making sure that scoliosis patients are no longer left behind.

“Behind these statistics and policy failures are real children and real families struggling to get the care they need.

“But let me also highlight another case – one that illustrates a different yet equally devastating failure of our system.

“A teenage girl was diagnosed with mild scoliosis, but her doctors warned her that when puberty hit, her condition would worsen to moderate scoliosis, which it did, in a matter of weeks.

“Surgery is an option, but because she is still growing, she would require multiple and consistent surgeries over several years. To avoid this, she now attends multiple physiotherapy sessions each month – not to cure her condition, but to slow its progression and manage her pain.

“This is a child who has a medical card, yet her family must pay €300 per month for private physiotherapy because public services are unavailable. The financial burden is enormous, and her mother is struggling to keep up with the costs. Meanwhile, she has been waiting for months for a medical consultation.

“This case highlights a broader issue that is often overlooked – children who are not yet in need of urgent surgery but who still desperately require medical intervention. These children are slipping through the cracks of our healthcare system because there are no supports available for families trying to delay or prevent the need for surgery.

“This bill – and the amendment I have proposed – offers a real solution. It introduces accountability, enforces waiting time targets, and ensures that children suffering from scoliosis are no longer left behind.

“This is a question of basic human decency. Every child in Ireland deserves timely, effective, and compassionate medical care, and every family deserves a healthcare system they can rely on.”