Man wants to stop dialysis for child's therapy, Dáil told

Man offered to stop dialysis if grandson can get speech therapy, Dáil told

Updated / Thursday, 5 Nov 2026 13:54

A 52-year-old grandfather, who is on dialysis, offered to end his treatment if his three-year-old non-verbal grandson could get speech therapy, the Dáil has heard.

The man said he made the offer in a bid to save the State money.

"I know what my outcome will be, but I would give anything to hear his little voice," he said.

The issue was raised in the Dáil by Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty who said the man's offer was a sign of the desperation families are facing.

He 6,170 children are waiting to begin their speech therapy.

The Tánaiste said the man's plea shows the clear stress and anxiety he is feeling and his love for his grandson.

"The Government does recognise that therapy waiting lists are still too long, and there's a number of initiatives being taken to try to reduce the primary care waiting list," Simon Harris said.

"I want to thank that gentleman for bringing this issue in relation to his grandchild to my attention.

"I want to ensure him that I will make sure that the HSE has access to that information," he added.

It comes as Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins raised the issue of Government plans to overhaul special education.

She accused Fine Gael of a repeated failure to deliver solutions, saying "you prefer to narrate the problems, rather than doing anything about it".

She said this was very obvious for families of children with additional needs.

"For those families, Tánaiste, talk is cheap... despite promise after promise after promise, nothing gets better," she said.

She said it was exhausting, demoralising and heartbreaking for families.

Diagnoses presented as 'optional extra', Cummins says

Deputy Cummins said all of the teachers' unions expressed universal opposition to the plan, because it was not driven by the best interests of the child.

"Diagnoses are now being presented as some kind of optional extra", rather than an essential tool, she said.

She said "schools are not diagnostic centres, they are places of teaching [and] learning".

"You want a child to underachieve, or fail before they get the appropriate supports, in what world is that appropriate, where is the care and where is the humanity in that, it is cruel," she said.

The Tánaiste said "in relation to special education... quite frankly, it's not about the unions," and said "the current system ain't working and it's not serving children".

Mr Harris asked if the Government should keep pumping money into a system that was not working, or look at overhauling it.

He said nothing was decided and that they were engaged in extensive consultation with all stakeholders, saying there were too many hoops to jump through for families seeking assessments of need.

He said: "We have to look and see, has the system become overly bureaucratic?"

Mr Harris added that a conversation was being had about how well the system was working, and that the conversation was worth having.

Deputy Cummins urged the Government to listen to the experts and families, and to stop kite-flying.

The Tánaiste said it was not kite flying, and that no decision had been made yet.

He said part of the answer to speed up access was to enable therapists to do assessments, rather than writing reports.