Child Poverty Dail Éireann — 2025-04-08 ============================================================ Rose Conway-Walsh (SF), Mayo The Taoiseach will remember that on 4 March I raised in the Chamber the case of 16-year-old Mikey Henry, who suffers with scoliosis. Mikey, along with his parents Penny and Michael and his sisters Clara and Cate, travelled from Mayo to the Dáil last week and while they were here they met the Minister for Health. I want to sincerely thank the health Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill for taking the time to meet the family but now is the time for action. They want an independent second opinion on his surgical options. His parents are requesting the help of a spinal specialist who deals with specific complex care along with a respiratory expert either in Ireland or abroad to get a full and thorough assessment on whether surgery can be done at this critical stage. Mikey’s consultant appointment in Crumlin hospital has been cancelled for the fourth time. This means he has not seen a consultant since August 2024 and all the while his condition worsens. I ask that the Taoiseach work with the Minister to ensure there is an urgent intervention. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-04-08/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:42+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-04-08