The Irish Government will use Jordan as an evacuation route to get a new group of sick children from Gaza to Ireland, in an “imminent” operation expected to take place in October.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has for the first time authorised the use of the new route, which medics had told the Government was a better way to get more seriously ill children out of the lethal conflict zone.
Ireland had previously only used Egypt as a route out of Gaza.
Already 12 paediatric patients, 12 respective mothers or carers and 21 other family members were brought to Ireland across two successful missions in December and May.
READ MORE
But it is understood that doctors familiar with the missions had raised concerns with the Department of Health that the facilities available in the hospital in Cairo had meant that some of the sickest children identified as needing medical evacuation could not be brought to Ireland. Doctors have instead had to choose children with lower complex needs to come to Ireland.
Since May, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) had told the Government that Jordan is a better route because a higher quality hospital in Amman means that Ireland would be able to evacuate much more seriously ill children who are in the most dire need of medical help.
Last year, the Government agreed to help up to 30 children to leave Gaza in 2024. But the first operation to bring children to Ireland for treatment did not start until December, with the rest continuing this year.
It is understood around 11 children have been identified for an upcoming third evacuation mission, but medical professionals will have to assess closer to the time if they are all well enough to travel. Sources familiar with the mission described it as “imminent” and said it has been approved to take place in October.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Union’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) had also indicated their support of Ireland using Jordan as an evacuation route instead of Egypt.
The Norwegian government, which has offered the use of one of its planes to Ireland for the operations, also favours flying out of Jordan as it is able to do so more regularly and flexibly.
The children and their families are accommodated in Ireland by the Red Cross, and are treated across CHI hospitals.
Medical professionals at CHI are involved in helping to select children from an evacuation list compiled by the WHO. Ireland is currently not accepting children who require spinal surgeries, due to ongoing pressures within the health service for those treatments.
The Government had come under pressure over the summer to evacuate another group of children, after it emerged that there had been concerns over visas for the siblings of children brought to Ireland.
Three people familiar with the mission said that they had been told the visa concerns were stalling the evacuation plans.
Ms Carroll MacNeill brought a memo to the Government to recognise that Ireland should also evacuate patients’ siblings for humanitarian reasons.
The groups, brought to Ireland in December and May, included 12 patients, their respective carers as well as 21 other family members. For humanitarian reasons, Ireland was not able to leave siblings of patients alone in Gaza without a surviving parent.
This had prompted concerns in the Department of Health and Department of Justice that the Government had gone beyond what Ministers originally agreed to.
Ms Carroll MacNeill said the Government had been bringing up to three immediate family members with each child, which she said “better reflects the urgent and compassionate nature of the situation”.
