Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said there is now confirmation for the first time that the children's "hip surgery scandal" at two Children's Health Ireland (CHI) hospitals goes back 15 years and not just the two-year period currently under review.
The CHI-commissioned independent review into hip surgeries in children, announced in July last year, is looking at a random, anonymised sample of dysplasia of the hip surgeries, between 2021 and 2023, at Children's Health Ireland hospital sites, as well as Cappagh Orthopaedic Hospital.
It has been examining whether the criteria used for surgical intervention varied between three hospitals and if surgery was required in all cases.
Ms McDonald said the Government has not given information or assurance to parents, and she accused them of ducking and diving.
She asked the Taoiseach how many children are involved saying - "is it hundreds, it is thousands?"
Micheál Martin said there is a lot of anxiety and concern among parents because surgery for a child is very traumatic.
He said a clinical audit has been carried out and it is now at a very advanced stage after its author received final feedback from clinicians.
But the Taoiseach said there is no exact timeline around when it will be fully completed but added that "we may have this sooner than you might think".
"No one is ducking and diving ... it is far better for everybody that the complete report is issued and published," he said.
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'Routine follow-up care'
Children who have had developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) surgeries at the three hospitals are to be offered "routine follow-up care", according to letters sent to parents recently by CHI.
This type of surgery is where the ball and socket joint of a child's hip has not properly formed.
It follows an early recommendation from the independent review, that is yet to be completed, into dysplasia of the hip operations at Crumlin, Temple Street and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh.
The letters sent by CHI say that the follow-up appointment is part of the "normal post-operative review process and is not urgent".
The routine follow-up appointments will be offered to children "in the coming months" if a child is not already in a long-term follow-up process with one of the hospitals.
The letter states that the DDH review is not complete and the hospital cannot provide any detail of its findings, nor can it comment on any media reports as to what it might ultimately say.
"However, an early recommendation ... is that all children who have had DDH surgery should receive routine follow-up care until the child's bones have fully grown and developed (skeletal maturity) in line with current best practice," the letter from CHI states.
'Left in limbo'
The Taoiseach has been asked to clarify if all families and parents potentially affected by the CHI hip surgery controversy have been contacted about the concerns.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said that the controversy may stretch over 15 years and that "we could be talking about thousands of parents".
They have been "left in limbo", he said.
Mr Tóibín said there are legitimate concerns that some "operations were unwarranted and unnecessary" and that officials cannot "ask parents to be confident" that their children are always receiving the care they need.
Calling for an audit into the case to be completed as soon as possible, Mr Tóibín asked: "When will parents find out what happened to their children".
He added that parents want to know, "how did this happen?
"What are the Government structures that allowed this, where is the leadership in the hospitals?"
Mr Martin said while "letters have been issued" to some families and parents going back to 2010, that does not mean the audit is going back that far.
Mr Martin stated that the audit is "not going back 15 years".
He said: "I favour completion" of the report, and that until the audit is fully concluded, "I can't draw conclusions".
"We do really need to await completion of that audit."
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said she has not received this report and a second report on spinal surgeries and she does not have a timeline for when she will receive them.
She said that were she to ask the authors to give a specific date for completion she would feel that she would be interfering with their process.
Minister Carroll MacNeill said she hopes to have the reports soon because parents of children impacted want to see them and she also wants to see the reports.
The Social Democrats have called on Minister Carroll MacNeill to publish a report into the surgeries and make a statement on the matter.
Cork South-Central TD Pádraig Rice said "there's a huge vacuum of information", and "a lot of worried parents" who "are sick to their stomach".
Mr Rice said he has "very serious concerns" and wants this to be top of the agenda of the Oireachtas Health Committee when it convenes.
