The Government has cut the hours this year.

There are 2 million hours cut this year.

Where is the legislation?

At the outset, I extend my condolences to the family of Dollceanna Carter. I offer my sympathies to all of the families impacted by this saga. It is a national scandal and a major issue that needs to be addressed. We need a timely response to it. It cannot just be another example of setting up a review and kicking it down the road, but my fear is that that is what will happen. The Minister and the Minister of State spoke about the importance of having an appropriate response when things go wrong and of ensuring tha…

We need to appreciate that the backdrop to this is that the State has failed the children who are most medically challenged. Despite repeated promises, the scoliosis plan, three Ombudsman's reports, three reviews which have been completed, umpteen Dáil debates and umpteen media reports, we still do not have adequate services for those vulnerable children. It is no wonder that trust has broken down and this week's events have not helped in any way. There is an impasse there at the moment. We need solutions and we ne…

They do not believe that.

That is welcome. To clarify, is the Minister saying the advocacy groups will have an input to the draft terms of reference before they are finalised? I think that is really important.

Okay. That is very welcome. I thank the Minister. On the matter of the Crumlin report being published, I welcome that. I tabled a parliamentary question on it and look forward to seeing the answer on Thursday. Can the Minister clarify if that report will cover the use of what are known as the magic rods in some surgeries?

Can we see the terms of reference for that review?

Okay. Many different reviews are being referred to. Can the Minister tell me who in Temple Street was aware of the proposed use of the non-medical devices? Was their use discussed with management? Has he any information about that? As far as he knows, did they go through the procurement process and the standard protocols?

Has the Minister a timeline for that review?

Who is carrying out that review?

Who is doing it? Do we know?

What is the oversight? We need to get away from people policing and investigating themselves. There has been too much of that. What is the oversight?

That is not acceptable. Allegations are being made that this was all known about within Temple Street at a senior level. I do not know whether there is a basis to those allegations or not, but they should not be left hanging in the air. We also know that there is an end-to-end procurement procedure, from the purchase of them, and I understand the hospital paid for them, up to the sterilisation of them before implantation. We need to know how they were implanted in three patients. What were the discussions, if any, …

We have been told it could be a year, if not longer, until Dr. Nayagam reports. The general principle is that justice delayed is justice denied. Too often, we see a major problem being put into a review and who knows when we will ever get the results of that review, and it will be redacted. All of these things generally happen. That is not good enough in these circumstances. Will the Minister ensure that either the HSE or his Department takes oversight of this report? This goes to the heart of the question of trust…

Or not.

Does it involve children with spina bifida?

I welcome the debate on the motion before us tonight. It provides us with a timely opportunity ahead of next month's budget to discuss the measures needed to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. I am very concerned by the signals coming from Government, particularly from the Fine Gael elements of the Government, that more tax cuts are on the way. At a time when we should be investing heavily in public services, it seems this Government is instead set on eroding the tax base. In our view, this would be a mistake, not l…

We knew from early in the year that there was a black hole in the funding for the HSE's national service plan, NSP. This was identified by a board member of the HSE, Mr. Brendan Lenihan, who is the chair of the audit and risk committee. He said he was not prepared to go along with this messaging, which was trying to cover over the fact that there was a serious shortfall in funding for the service plan. What is happening in that regard and where do we stand with the deficit?