Children's Health Ireland (CHI) has said it has been told by the Health Service Executive (HSE) that it is to receive an extra €4 million in funding every year, with a significant portion of the money going towards orthopaedic surgeries.
An advocacy group for children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus is now calling on CHI to provide clarity on how much of the additional funding will be spent on orthopedic surgery for children
It comes as the group - the Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group - launched a new website that tells stories of children in need.
The site, "Paiste in Pain", tells the individual stories of 69 children who are currently waiting on life-changing surgeries.
Six-year-old AbbieRose Byrne from Bettystown, Co Meath has spina bifida and is one of the children on the list.
She has been waiting three years for corrective knee surgery and her condition has deteriorated over that time, so much so, that she now needs three surgeries instead of one.
"It's heart breaking the way that it's been for me," AbbieRose said. "It's hard being stuck in my chair all the time."
Denise O'Herir, AbbieRose's mother, said that AbbieRose has lost all her independence as a result of waiting for the surgery.
"Three years ago, we were told she needed a surgery for her hip and now we're three years on and sitting down with a doctor to be told she needs hip, knee and foot surgery because it's deteriorated so badly.
"AbbieRose now is not in a position that she can use her walker. She can't walk anymore."
The Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group said the website launched today is aimed at highlighting the pain the children are experiencing while waiting for surgery.
"These children aren't just numbers on a waiting list," said Amanda Coughlan Santry, co-lead of the group.
"These are bubbly, intelligent little children who don't have any more time to wait they are medically vulnerable."
Yesterday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil that the waiting lists were not a funding issue. He said he had sought a meeting with CHI and the HSE to discuss the problem.
Today, the HSE informed CHI that an extra €4m in funding would be made available every year. CHI said a significant proportion of that would go towards orthopaedic surgery.
Chief Executive of CHI, Eilísh Hardiman said: "Fundamentally for Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin and Temple Street this means additional theatres, so we are going to be opening up additional theatres in the middle of the summer and this means we can see more patients because these patients can only be done in these hospitals.
"But at a high level we are looking at the longest waiters being addressed and done in 2022."
