The Minister for Health says she is "not happy" with the delay in spinal surgeries for children, but will not call it an "emergency".
This comes after Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeil and the Tánaiste met with the parents of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison who died after years of waiting for spinal surgery.
143 children have been on the waiting list surgery at Children's Health Ireland Crumlin for over a year.
When questioned at the Joint Committee on Health, the Minister refused to classify the long waiting times for complex surgeries as an emergency. "I have an audit literally into spinal and urology, that's proceeding at the moment. "