Dr. Alan Finan:

I thank Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin for his kind comments towards myself and the previous general manager of Cavan General Hospital. They are much appreciated. We are two people in clinical-management positions who have the support of a very strong but, as indicated by Mr. Flory, very small management team without whom we could not do the work we do. We also have a very committed team of midwives and doctors in the maternity service who work very hard and who produce very positive outcomes, a fact also commented on by Mr. Flory. Mr. Flory's report specifically states that the outcomes in the maternity service in Cavan Monaghan Hospital are positive and the key performance indicators for Cavan Monaghan Hospital maternity service are good, both by Irish standards and by international standards.

Deputy Ó Caoláin raised the issue of the publication of reports and I agree with him that the delay in the publication of reports is a significant problem for families. While this report is positive, we are very mindful of that fact that a number of families who have attended our maternity service did not have a positive experience. I wish to reassure those families who have received reports relating to their care or that of their infant, or are expecting to receive reports, that we will pursue the recommendations in those reports with the energy that is required to make sure they are implemented. There are five outstanding reports on infant deaths over the past number of years in Cavan. Two of them have been completed and have been provided to the families concerned. Two are at final draft stage and are being circulated to the staff involved for feedback and commentary and one of the five is still at a fairly early stage.

We were asked about the speed with which reports or reviews of adverse incidents are dealt. A very robust system is in place to identify and manage adverse events in the maternity service in Cavan Monaghan Hospital, when they occur. I am confident that the process recognises adverse events at an early stage and examines and identifies what needs to be done about them. In many cases, reviews are required and I believe the internal system is sufficiently robust for many such reports and that an internal review is the quickest way to achieve a report on adverse incidents. However, in a number of incidents, the complexity will require a level of external expertise, so a review will ideally be conducted externally in these cases. In a number of cases, families themselves request that reports are conducted externally to achieve the level of objectivity that they perceive to be necessary. When an external review is requested, however, it takes a significant length of time and that is a problem the system needs to address and improve on.