They saved €1,000 on little Roisín – but how many more will die?

A TWO-YEAR-OLD child died because her heart operation was cancelled and the Minister for Health, Micheál Martin, calls for a report.

He doesn't need a report, and we don't need a report, to realise that little Roisín Ruddle died to save less than €1,000.

That, apparently, is the value of a young life in the Ireland of today, reputedly one of the richest countries in the EU. The little girl - an only child - died when doctors at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin had to cancel her scheduled heart surgery because there were no post-operative intensive care paediatric nurses available.