Mr. Mark Molloy:

At local level. When we eventually got advice from a solicitor half way through this, the letter came in like lightning. When that happens the HSE stops its investigation immediately. We hear of people having had cerebral palsy settlements after eight, ten or 12 years with no admission of liability. There is no investigation in those cases.

If a family has to sue, that links in to the inquest part of the process. The HSE throws money at the inquests, including senior counsel, so we have to counter that. We had to hire senior counsel for Mark's inquest, and then we were left with a bill. The State picks up the tab for the HSE, which is seeking to limit the scope of the inquest, whereas it is left to the family to pick up the tab for seeking the truth. As a result of that a family has to serve papers, otherwise, they are left with bills amounting to hundreds of thousands of euro. Families have no option but as soon as they serve the papers, the investigation stops. As I said, it may be an issue for the Committee of Public Accounts to look into-----