What kind of country do we live in if we won't even give proper care to sick children?

“Continued closure of ward at Crumlin Children’s Hospital a disgrace” - Byrne SF


Balbriggan Sinn Féin representative Fergus Byrne has described as “a disgrace” the continued closure of a 25-bed ward at Crumlin Children’s Hospital. Byrne said:

“Cuts at Crumlin Children’s Hospital last year received national attention as parents of very sick children were forced to protest and seek media coverage of their plight. The closure of the 25-bed St. Joseph’s Ward was supposed to be temporary, with the facility reopening this year. We now find that the ward is to remain closed, with the knock-on effect of continuing cancellations and unacceptably long waiting lists for operations and procedures, some of them life-saving.

“In a Dáil debate on the hospital last year Health Minister Mary Harney described Crumlin as ‘a centre of excellence, delivering outstanding care to the sick children of Ireland’ and ‘the tertiary hospital for the vast majority of children with a serious illness’. Such honeyed words are meaningless when the Minister presides over a situation where the hospital is struggling and sick children and their parents are being put through further unnecessary anguish.

“If Minister Harney diverted to Crumlin Children’s Hospital even some of the taxpayers money squandered in tax breaks for the developers of private hospitals then not only could the closed ward be reopened but services at Crumlin could be expanded further.”