Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 60(6)) and (Section 51(3)) Regulations 2026: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-24 ============================================================ Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny I want to thank all the Senators who spoke so well tonight. As they stated, the concerns and issues that arise are something that the Department and the HSE are working on. The officials from the Department are here tonight. We will definitely come back to Senator Stephenson with answers to some of the questions she posed. In the context of Senators' contributions, the two scoping exercises are so important for all of us, for the families and everyone who has been affected and for the advocacy groups. I want to bring people back to the heart of why these procedures and this process matters. Behind every scoping exercise, inquiry, term of reference and statutory instrument, there are people whose lives have been deeply shaped by the events and system that we are examining. These inquiries are timely about individuals, children, parents, families and survivors. That is what it is all about. On behalf of the Department and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, I assure Senators that this is centred on the children, the parents, the family and the survivors. This is the centre of what is being worked on. I have provided updates today about the Children's Health Ireland inquiry into spina bifida, the complex scoliosis services scoping exercise, and the scoping exercise in response to requests from Dignity4Patients on behalf of victims and survivors of Michael Shine. The parents who have fought for improvements in scoliosis and spina bifida services have shown extraordinary strength and resilience. Their advocacy has been driven by a desire not just to improve services for their own children but also to ensure to ensure that no family will face the same obstacles, delays or distress in the future. That is what we are working to do. These families came to the Government looking for partnership, honesty and change, and I want to assure them that today their voices are central to the process that is now under way. The appointment of Mr. Remy Farrell SC is an important step, but the most important element will always be the lived experience of the children and families who have faced these challenges. The survivors who came forward through Dignity4Patients have shown immense courage. They have carried hurt and pain for a very long time and it takes a profound bravery to revisit experiences of harm in order to help shape a system that is safer for others. The appointment of Mr. Lorcan Staines SC and the victim-centred approach to his scoping exercise represents our commitment to ensuring that survivors are treated with dignity, respect and care at every step. That lies at the heart of this. Their well-being is not an afterthought; it is the foundation on which this work will be done. That is something the Senators have highlighted. It is a priority for us. These scoping exercises are about people. They are about learning from the past, acknowledging harm, understanding what went wrong and ensuring that our systems are strong enough, safe enough and compassionate enough to prevent such failures from ever happening again. That is why it so important that these regulations under the Data Protection Act 2018 be passed by the Houses today. The regulations provide the legal basis for facilitators to process personal data, which is essential to these exercises. Without this, the process will not be able to fully scope the issues or what we have to do for the patients, families and victims. We cannot share their lived experience without this. I also want to acknowledge the staff across our health service, whether in CHI, the HSE or hospital or community settings, who work every day with compassion and commitment. An inquiry is a tool to identify where systems fail or where they are not yet strong enough. The goal is improvement, accountability and healing. To the families and survivors listening in today, I say that your courage has brought us to this point. Your advocacy has shaped these scoping exercises and your voices will continue to guide what happens next. The Minister is committed to ensuring that each scoping exercise has the independence, the resources and the authority it needs to carry out its work thoroughly and fairly. She is equally committed to ensuring that their recommendations shape real, sustained and meaningful actions. As we move forward, I want to encourage those affected to engage fully and openly with Mr. Farrell and Mr. Staines. I know that participating in these processes can be difficult but your insights are essential to shaping inquiries that will lead to real, lasting change. These facilitators will approach their work with care, independence and respect. I am confident that with the engagement of those involved, these inquiries will deliver the understanding, accountability and improvement that families, survivors and the public deserve. I want to acknowledge that although progress is being made, we know that many children are still waiting too long for care. We owe it to children who are still waiting for spinal surgeries and to their families to go further and to do more. Every child deserves to live free of unnecessary pain and delay. That is our goal and we must not stop until we reach it. Significant efforts have been made to improve pediatric spinal services across CHI. That work continues. Waiting times are being tackled, capacity is increasing, new pathways of care are being developed and quality improvements are being embedded in every part of the service. I have listened carefully to everything that has been said. I thank all the Senators for their continued engagement on this matter. --- 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/seanad/2026-03-24/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:46+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-24