Icy reception for health minister Simon Harris at ribbon cutting

Parents have harsh words for health minister at unit opening in Mallow, reports Catherine Shanahan

A bit of a blizzard outside, even stormier inside — only a keen appreciation of pathetic fallacy could have steeled Simon Harris for the reception he got in Mallow General Hospital yesterday.

What should have been a straightforward ribbon- snipping exercise to mark the official opening of an injury unit turned into a heated and emotional discussion in a hallway packed with cameras and voice recorders.

Two mothers at their wits’ end for want of trying to access services for their children had travelled to Mallow seeking answers from the minister.

Vera Twomey, exhausted from a day-long protest outside the gates of Leinster House on Wednesday, wanted to know why it was that her six-year-old daughter, who suffers from a rare and severe form of epilepsy, has as yet been unable to access the medicinal cannabis her parents believe will improve her condition.

“We are met with roadblock after roadblock,” said her husband Paul Barry.

While the minister’s handlers looked anxiously on at what seemed like a front-of-camera nightmare, Mr Harris stood his ground and heard Paul and Vera out.

He even wrapped his arm around Ms Twomey, but she was having none of it.

“You’re putting your hand out to me, you’re putting your hand on my hand now. But you didn’t put your hand out to me since before last Christmas. And I had respect for you. I’ve been a member of and voted for Fine Gael for the last 20 years of my life and you have betrayed us,” she said.

“I stood outside that gate (Leinster House), the humiliation of standing outside that gate yesterday from 1.45 to 7.15 until [AAA-PBP TD] Gino Kenny came up and pulled me away from the gate because he said I had to come away because I was frozen with the cold.

“Ye were able to give a statement to TV3 to tell them what was going on but ye didn’t have the common decency to come down and tell me what was going on.”

Simon Harris cuts the ribbon with, from left, MEP Deirdre Clune; Kathryn Reid, injury unit; David Stanton TD; Dr Gerard McCarthy, Mallow/ CUH; Seamus McGrath, Cork County mayor; Claire Crowley, hospital manager; Kevin O’Keeffe TD; and Brenda Herlihy, director of nursing.

Ms Twomey attracted national attention when she commenced a walk from her home in Aghabullogue, Co Cork, to Dublin in November to highlight the plight of her daughter Ava.

Ava has Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that sees her having up to 16 seizures a day.

Ms Twomey is calling on the Government to speed up the process of legalising cannabis products for medicinal uses, which she believes will benefit her daughter.

Yesterday, Mr Harris disputed her claim that the family was not being kept in the loop.

He said he had initiated a policy review by the Health Products Regulatory Authority on the use of medical cannabis, the first of its kind in Ireland. Moreover, he said he expects the review to be completed by the end of the month.

“I don’t what to preempt or prejudice it but I would hope that if it sees a benefit to the availability of medicinal cannabis, I can act on that immediately,” he said.

His reassurances did nothing to quell the frustration of Ava’s parents.

They disputed his claim that his department had not received an application from a doctor to obtain a licence to prescribe medicinal cannabis for Ava, as is required.

Simon Harris at CUMH to discuss gynaecology waiting lists, with, from left, Dr Matt Hewitt, Dr Cathy Burke, Dr Keelin O’Donoghue, Prof John Higgins, Dr Noirín Russell, and Dr Moya McMenamin.

Mr Harris insisted such an application had not been made. “If a doctor puts in an application for your daughter to have medicinal cannabis that will be expedited, but there has been no application,” he said.

Mr Barry argued that they had done all that was requested of them, even sourcing a wholesale pharmacist to import the product.

Mr Harris said if they submit the doctor’s application, as one Irish family has already successfully done, the process could be brought to a conclusion.

With no sign of a conclusion to the corridor altercation, Mr Harris offered to meet Ms Twomey and Mr Barry in private once the ribbon had been snipped. Handlers looked relieved when they agreed but Suzanne Kelly was not letting the minister go anywhere before she too had a chance to air her grievances.

Her three-year-old daughter, Angel Smith, from Mallow, has been trying to access a HSE assessment of need for over a year. The child was non-verbal at age two and referred for assessment by a public health nurse.

Health Minister Simon Harris unveils a plaque at the official opening of the injury unit at Mallow General Hospital, with Claire Crowley, hospital manager.

At age three, she has “10-15 words” and Ms Kelly has had to seek help to pay for a private assessment. At the moment, the child is getting speech therapy once every six to eight weeks.

“There’s no such thing as early intervention,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. I applied for the assessment last April and when I complained at the delay, they said she was being prioritised. I just want to hear her little voice.”

“Our children are our future and my daughter does not have a voice because the early intervention will not give her what she wants,” Ms Kelly told Mr Harris, who promised he would call her today.

“If you don’t, I am going to start a walk (to Dublin) from the roundabout (in Mallow)” she said.

Then it was time for the official doorstep before the ribbon was finally snipped.