Sir, - It is with a heavy heart and a growing sense of frustration that I read about the latest vote-getting exercise. To cater for the thousands of disappointed U2 fans is indeed admirable. Add to this the Stadium Ireland plan and the £125 million for the FAI - obviously attempts to please all of the people all of the time.
But let your readers consider the plight of children with congenital heart defects. Crumlin Hospital, the national centre for paediatric cardiology, has had no major investment since the early 1970s. Promised new operating theatres are once more beset by delays. The proposed new cardiac facilities are not even close to the drawing board. Currently it takes over a year to get an outpatient's appointment in the cardiac clinic.
This Government has indeed put money into this problem but only to export hundreds of children abroad for surgery in order to control the scandalous waiting list that existed. While this has without doubt saved many lives, the real solution would be to provide adequate facilities and staff to cater for these children. The present Minister for Health seems to want to resolve this situation, but so far we have seen no positive action. Perhaps his hands are tied and he has been placed in a Department where he can effect no real change and therefore sink without trace.
We are entitled to a health service we can all be proud of and that can stand alongside the best in the world. If our Taoiseach really wants to leave a legacy, let it be a proper health service that caters for even the most vulnerable in our society. - Yours, etc.,
Shay McConnell, Chairman, Heart Children Ireland, Carmichael Centre, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7.
