An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-09
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Pauline Tully (SF), Cultural and Educational Panel

I want to raise the case of a woman in her 30s who is the mother of children, two of whom are very young. She is currently in Cavan General Hospital and has experienced pain for years due to kidney stones. The failure of the hospital and Beaumont Hospital has robbed her of her health and life because she has put up with years of antibiotics, painkillers and steroids while being told her case will be addressed. She has been in and out of hospital. A year ago, she was admitted to the hospital when very ill with an infection as a result of kidney stones. She had a recurrence of sepsis. Her partner and parents were called in one night because it was thought that she would not see the morning. Thankfully, she was rushed to Beaumont Hospital and the infection was brought under control. A stent was inserted into her kidney in Beaumont and she was told it would be in for a maximum of two months and she would then be brought back to have her kidney stones removed. A year on, she is still waiting for that. The stent is still in her kidney and has become infected.
She went back to Cavan General Hospital on Friday for a routine scan and had to be kept in because she was so unwell. She was put on a ward yesterday, but had not yet seen a doctor as of midday today. She does not know what is happening. She does not know if she is being sent to Beaumont. If her issues had been addressed in a timely fashion she would not require additional medication and hospital stays which cost our health service money. People seem to go to hospital on a regular basis with an issue and are given painkillers and told to go home, and then have to return in a few days or a week later because the condition has worsened.
I had a Commencement matter on a different issue a few weeks ago and neither the Minister of Health nor any of the Ministers of State from the Department of Health turned up, which I was really disappointed about. I call for a debate on acute medical care. I will also contact the Minister directly to intervene in this particular case. We need a debate on what is happening in our health service. We are supposed to be looking after people's health, not making it worse. I cannot understand the reluctance to deal with a very routine operation. She should have had those stones removed by keyhole surgery and avoided all of this unnecessary pain.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09