Mr. Phelim Quinn:

We believe due regard was not had for information being provided by the State Claims Agency or the validity of that information. It is as a result of that ambiguity that we have made a recommendation on a more formal arrangement between the State Claims Agency, the HSE and the new hospital groups. We believe that arrangement needs to ensure the formal transmission of information, be it specific information or trend information, from the State Claims Agency.

Senator Quinn asked a range of questions about the specifics regarding obstetrics. The questions are related to the midwifery workforce. My colleague mentioned the recommendation we made in our 2013 investigation into the tragic death of Ms Savita Halappanavar. At that point, we very clearly recognised the need for a maternity services strategy for Ireland. That strategy would take into account the very question the Senator has asked us today: what is the current profile of the workforce within the maternity services, and what should it be in light of the remodelling of those services across the 19 or fewer units? We just do not know the number; the maternity services strategy itself would have been to determine that. There needs to be very clear clinical and midwifery input into the strategy to inform it from an international best evidence perspective.

We have been asked about the report itself and changes therein between our issuing of the draft version to the HSE in February 2015 and publication last Friday. I wish to be absolutely clear in stating there is very minimal change to the report. As a matter of fact, the substantive findings of the report have not changed at all. There are some minor changes that would be expected as a result of due process. An example, which we articulated on Friday, is that there was a significant challenge associated with our glossary of terms in the report so we expanded it quite significantly. The findings themselves, however, are not substantially changed. I reassure the committee fully on that.