Mattie McGrath blasts HSE management as 'dead wood'
Mattie McGrath spoke about failures in HSE management and care for children, praising frontline staff while condemning management as chaotic, callous and 'dead wood'. He thanked Sinn Fein for putting down the motion and said families are forced to scramble and beg while reports gather dust.
Praise for frontline staff
He commended doctors, nurses, professors and ordinary HSE staff who do tremendous work, and paid tribute to his late brother, a paediatrician of some renown, and to Professor Michael O'Keefe for their voluntary service to patients.
Sharp criticism of management
He described a management issue in the system as chaotic, callous, cold and sickening, saying it risks leaving children to languish. He accused layers of management of cannibalising the HSE's Department of Health and warned that reports are simply gathering dust.
Impact on families
He recounted the struggle families face, saying parents must scramble, beg and scrape to get care, and that these battles put pressure on marriages and siblings. He praised the bravery of parents who have fought for their children.
Direct appeals to ministers
He appealed to ministers to 'call out' the dead wood and to let good clinicians and psychiatrists treat children, arguing management structures should be removed so patients can be cared for without obstruction.
References to debate and motion
He thanked Sinn Fein for putting down the motion discussed in the debate, described the system as cruel and savage, and expressed scepticism that yet another report will lead to meaningful change.
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I want to welcome the people in the gallery tonight, family members and other schools, in this system, this cruel system, thanks Sinn Fein for putting down this motion, it's so savage, my late brother was a pediatrician of some renown, and I want to also mention tonight Professor Michael O'Keefe, who succumbed to illness and was late the rest of the weekend, who did so much for patients, and there are many good people in the HSE, doctors and professors, and indeed ordinary staff, nurses and everything else, that do tremendous work, but there's a management issue that's chaotic, callous, cold, and sickening to be honest, and the fact that children could be left to languish, our future generations, and the fight that I have had in my office with families and with parents, my goodness, they're so brave, the parents, I want to thank them, but they have to scramble and beg and scrape and try to work and hold the marriage together, family together, and other siblings, can you not see ministers, Dad and Harry, can you not see Harry Stott, can you not see the pleas, the blockages that are there, and call it out to dead wood, and let the good people that want to treat these children, psychiatrists and others, let them deal with them, and get rid of the management structures and dead wood that's there, that's costing a fortune, reports gathering dust, as this one I'm sure will as well, it's sad, sad, saddens me, and it saddens the names of those people, as I mentioned beforehand, both people, my late brother and Professor O'Keefe, brought patients away from the HSE, in their own time, voluntary, and treated them free of charge, without charging a penny, they had a patient interest, as many others have, there's too much dead wood, there's too much management, and layers of management, and they have cannibalised the HSE's Department of Health, and you should know that ministers.
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