Tánaiste Simon Harris is to meet the mother of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, a nine-year-old boy who died last month and was subject to delays in accessing urgent scoliosis surgery.
Harvey, from Clondalkin in Dublin, had spina bifida and scoliosis.
He died on 29 July and his mother, Gillian Sherratt, said last week that they did not have a cause of death.
A spokesperson for Mr Harris said that he has sought, through the Minister for Health, a "full multidisciplinary report on the timeline of care provided to Harvey".
The Tánaiste and Ms Sherratt spoke yesterday and agreed to meet in the near future.
Last year, Ms Sherratt and Harvey's father Stephen Morrison, said that he had been removed from a Children's Health Ireland (CHI) waiting list for urgent scoliosis surgery without their consent or knowledge.
Harvey received spinal surgery last November after being first placed on the waiting list in February 2022.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Harris faced a call for his resignation from Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín over the handling of the case.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Mr Tóibín said that Mr Harris failed to keep a promise he made as minister for health in 2017 that no child would be waiting for longer than four months for scoliosis surgery.
He wrote to the chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Health, calling for it to be reconvened immediately and for Mr Harris to appear before it.
'Things are actually getting worse' - advocacy group
Co-lead of Spina Bifida Advocacy Úna Keightley said that she met Harvey's parents yesterday.
"I called in yesterday and the house was much quieter than it normally was without Harvey there.
"They feel that their child has been failed. Harvey has spent most of his life waiting for something, waiting for care.
"He spent much of his life on a waiting list, and his parents, to their credit, spent years and years campaigning and fighting for the basics that he was entitled to and he was denied access to timely care," she said.
Ms Keightley said she believed that the situation generally was not improving.
"My lived experience with my child is that things are actually getting worse. He has not seen a spinal consultant at the spine with their MDT (multidisciplinary team) in three to four years.
"CHI have consistently been given the oversight and the management of waiting lists. We have seen CHI allow non-medical grade devices to be placed into children in CHI sites and we feel that at this point they have failed.
"They have failed repeatedly. Children are still suffering and it needs to be taken out of their hands and an independent body in charge of the scoliosis and spine victim management," she said.
Watch: Tánaiste 'did all he could' in terms of engaging with HSE on Harvey Morrison Sherratt case
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe defended Mr Harris.
He said that he has seen firsthand "the commitment that Simon Harris has had as minister for health, as taoiseach and as Tánaiste" in supporting families whose "loved ones" have scoliosis.
Mr Donohoe said when Mr Harris became aware of the needs of Harvey's family, he "did all he could in terms of engaging with the Department of Health and the HSE".
He said Mr Harris and the Government have placed "huge focus" on supporting young children with scoliosis.
Mr Donohoe acknowledged that the coalition "need to do more" and said they will "continue to prioritise this as a vital health issue".
"We always want to do more," he said. "We always want to make more progress."
Mr Donohoe added: "I am very conscious that we have a family that have lost a loved one, who are grieving at the moment.
"We have to respect that and allow them to make the points that they believe are important."
He said that "additional resources, additional clinical support and operating theatres" have been made available to support children with scoliosis.
"Those who are waiting for care have seen a reduction in how long they are waiting," he said.
"We are seeing a reduction in the number of people on the waiting list."
He said the Government had previously acknowledged that "our health service did need to do better".
'An important opportunity'
Sinn Féin spokesperson on health David Cullinane has said that Mr Harris's upcoming meeting with Harvey Morrison Sherratt's parents will be "an important opportunity" for them to share their experiences with the former minister for health.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Deputy Cullinane said that he is "heart-broken" and offered his condolences to Harvey's family.
Asked what the "multidisciplinary report" Mr Harris has ordered needs to establish, he said: "Did Harvey get the appropriate treatment at the appropriate time that he needed it?".
He said that "the failure on Simon Harris's part" was not to have met the family when he was minister for health, which would have been "the decent thing".
Deputy Cullinane welcomed that Mr Harris would do so now.
The deputy said there are 37 children waiting for over six months for their treatment, and he cited promises Mr Harris and Stephen Donnelly made while they were ministers for health - that no child would have to wait more than four months.
When asked if Mr Harris should resign, Mr Cullinane did not call for his resignation, instead saying that his priority is to ensure Mr Harris meets Harvey's family, and to ensure that those who need it get "timely access to care".
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Meanwhile, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Tóibín said Mr Harris failed to keep a promise he made as minister for health in 2017 that no child would be waiting for longer than four months for scoliosis surgery.
"It's a disaster for any parent to lose their child but the circumstances surrounding Harvey's death are particularly heartbreaking given all he had to endure in his short life," he said.
"It's very important in this country that we have some level of accountability and responsibility as well.
"When Simon Harris was minister for health, he promised in 2017 that no child would be left waiting for longer than four months for scoliosis surgery - that's a promise he failed to keep.
"In his own words, he says 'we don't need ministers to defend the indefensible', he said the waiting lists were indefensible.
"And yet we have a situation where Harvey had to spend 33 months on a scoliosis waiting list before he got his surgery.
"He was promised surgery back in 2022, he was meant to have it '23, it was cancelled abruptly and then a year ago Harvey's family found out that he was actually removed from the Children's Health Ireland waiting list without their knowledge."
A spokesperson for Mr Harris said that when Harvey's case was raised first with the Tánaiste, his office immediately contacted the Department of Health and the HSE and asked for immediate clinical attention.
"The Tánaiste expresses his deepest condolences to the family, as he did when he was asked about this matter on Monday," the spokesperson said.
"When this issue was brought to his attention during his time as Taoiseach, his overriding focus was making sure that the proper clinical interventions and consultations were made available.
"He was informed an additional clinical assessment did then take place and surgery was subsequently scheduled."
He added that Mr Harris expects and "has been assured" that the Department of Health, the HSE and CHI will be available to support and engage with the family.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald yesterday called on Mr Harris to meet Harvey's parents.
In a statement, CHI said that it cannot comment on individual cases.
It said the waiting list for spinal surgery "is constantly changing as children and young people have their surgeries and come off the list, new patients are added. Important progress is being made every month".
