Overview

• More than 1,000 people marched from the Garden of Remembrance to the Custom House in Dublin calling for justice for Harvey weeks after the nine-year-old’s death on 29 July.
• Harvey’s parents said he waited 33 months for scoliosis surgery as his spinal curve worsened from 75 to 130 degrees, describing his severe pain and breathing difficulties.
• The family says Harvey was removed from an urgent Children’s Health Ireland waiting list without their knowledge or consent after first being listed in February 2022.
• Advocacy groups demanded a statutory inquiry into children’s spinal services, while opposition figures criticized Tánaiste Simon Harris over his 2017 four-month pledge and some called for his resignation.
• Children’s Health Ireland reported 231 children on spinal surgery waiting lists at the end of July, including 36 waiting three to six months and 38 waiting over six months, and Harris has told the family he will meet them.