Man offered to give up dialysis to instead fund therapy for non-verbal grandson
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty revealed the contents of a letter from a man who was willing to end his own life-saving treatment.
A grandfather has pleaded for help from the Tánaiste by offering to give up his dialysis treatment for speech therapy for his non-verbal grandson.
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty revealed the contents of the letter, which was also sent to him, in the Dáil on Thursday.
Mr Doherty said the 52-year-old is willing to end his own treatment to “save the state money” so he can hear his three-year-old grandson’s voice.
The Donegal TD said the email “stopped me in my tracks”.
Mr Doherty said: “He states that he is getting in touch regarding his only grandchild, who is three and is non-verbal, that the child is a beautiful, happy, funny boy and his heart breaks for the child, as he cannot talk and gets so frustrated.
“This grandfather states that his daughter has the child on a waiting list to be seen and he feels he is being left behind. He states that he himself is not well, he is on dialysis three times weekly and he is sure a lot of problems boil down to money.
“He states that he will do a trade-off, he will cease his treatment, saving the state a lot of money, if his grandson can get speech therapy, and that he knows what his outcome will be but he would give anything to hear his grandson’s little voice.
“He asks the Tánaiste to treat his email seriously as he is 100% certain of his choices, and that he is still young, at 52, but at peace with his decision.
“I have spoken to this man since and I have told him to continue his treatment. He gets that, but he is desperate.”
Mr Doherty said the plea for help is part of a wider failure in community care.
He said HSE figures at the end of August showed there were 6,170 children waiting to begin their initial speech and language therapy.
Across the Clare and Co Limerick service area, there were 305 children waiting on speech and language therapy.
The longest wait for assessment in Co Clare is 91 weeks.
“In Donegal, in my own county, were children are waiting for initial therapy, the longest assessment was 44 weeks and families who cannot afford private therapy have no alternative but to wait,” he added.
Simon Harris said it is an area the Government is working on “very intensively”.
Mr Harris said: “The Government recognises that primary care waiting list and therapy waiting lists are still too long, and there is a number of initiatives being taken to try and reduce the primary care waiting list.
“I am always conscious when I stand up and say these things that that matters little to the person who is wondering when their three-year-old grandchild is going to get the therapy.
“I take that point, but I want that grandfather to know, indeed, I want all grandparents or parents who have their children waiting to know, that this is an area that we are working on very intensively.”