INTERNSPLUS

I am trying to hold on to hope tonight, but I am also being very clear: if the funding for Katie’s surgery is refused, there must be accountability. @MaryLouMcDonald rang me and told me she has spoken directly to the person I am dealing with in the @HSELive and emailed Ann O’Connor about Katie’s case. She is also waiting for a call back from @MichealMartinTD and is pushing him to help get the funding approved. Micheál Martin has already intervened in Katie’s case. His intervention helped move it through the HSE, but now we need more than reviews, emails and promises. We need a final decision. The Government can announce €125 million for Ukraine, yet Katie is here in Ireland, living in severe pain and still waiting for funding for surgery that could change her life. This is not an attack on the people of Ukraine. It is a demand that our own citizens are not abandoned while enormous sums of public money are found elsewhere. Katie has cerebral palsy, severe hip dysplasia, a twisted femur, a retroverted pelvis and a labral tear. The HSE has the medical reports, the surgical plan and the full costings. They know how much pain she is in. They know what is at risk if treatment is delayed further. I am exhausted from fighting. Exhausted from sending emails. Exhausted from waiting for replies. Exhausted from gathering reports and costings. Exhausted from watching my daughter suffer while people with the power to help continue discussing her case. If the funding is approved, we can finally move forward. We can confirm Katie’s surgery, arrange the flights and accommodation, prepare her for treatment and start planning for her recovery. Micheál Martin needs to get onto the HSE and use every bit of influence he has to bring this to a conclusion. Katie has waited long enough. Approve the funding. Let us make the plans. Let us get Katie the surgery she desperately needs.