Una Keightley was speaking in advance of Tuesday's Cabinet meeting at which Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is expected to present a memo recommending the establishment of a statutory public model of inquiry into the care provided to children with scoliosis and spina bifida.

Gillian Sherratt told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that the “type of inquiry” had not yet been “set in stone.”

The commitment was made by Tánaiste Simon Harris to the parents of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, nine, who died in July.

The nine-year-old, who had scoliosis and spina bifida, died in July after waiting years for spinal surgery while his condition worsened.

The HSE audit also revealed that targets for reducing waiting lists for children for spinal surgery are not being met

The Taoiseach said there was not a ‘lever’ he could pull to ensure a child got spinal surgery, which he said was a ‘clinical matter’.

A High Court judge has said that the health of a young girl at the centre of a legal row over the disclosure of medical records in relation to her spinal surgery should be "to the forefront"