Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The importance of apologies in terms of medical practice is reflected in the fact that many jurisdictions have apology laws that clarify that apologies by health practitioners do not constitute an admission of liability. I am conscious that as this legislation is developed, members cannot be ignorant of its background and the problems there have been in Ireland with health service providers. The example given by the Minister of State of a parent reprimanding a child is a good one because a parent tells a child to apologise to his or her brother or whatever - and perhaps the first time an apology is begrudgingly given - to train the child that in polite adult society, people need to learn manners, empathy and decent human behaviour when interacting with others. It has caused huge grief and hurt to citizens and probably cost the State a significant amount of money because some people have not received an apology they felt they were owed. It will be difficult to foster the culture we want to have if one is coming from very low base and a culture of denial because people are afraid they will end up in trouble if they give an apology, which is not true and has no legal status whatsoever. One would never have to train an adult as one would a child because an adult has learned the behaviour. However, we have an infantile health system which has operated poorly and needs to be retrained. In that sense, one has to tell it to apologise to its brother because our experience has been that this has not been done. We have all met people who have been devastated by their experiences who just needed a kindly word. I understand that members are trying to get to a situation where that would be voluntarily provided but I believe the legislation should say that is mandatory. To revert to my earlier point, this legislation should reinforce the confidence of health service providers that they have nothing to fear from acknowledging what happened and putting their hands up. The committee can move to a vote on this if needed but that is the thinking behind this provision.