Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There was a 300-page document on open disclosure in 2013. In what way was it transposed into everyday practice? Have there been seminars or discussions on it? Have any protocols been introduced? We were told by very senior people within the Health Service Executive and the Department, as well as some politicians in here, that we did not need mandatory open disclosure or legal underpinning of the concept because it was being done anyway since 2013. Now the witnesses are telling us it is not done. The witnesses may practise it in their everyday work but it is by no means a rule. While I fully appreciate that the witnesses have come to instill confidence in the system for women, a key tenet must be open disclosure. Maybe a woman does not want to know and is more concerned about her hair falling out. I do not know that and the witnesses would have more experience of it than I do. Perhaps a woman would want to know but she is not being asked. She could be traumatised and very ill. Surely it should be the first port of call to share that information. If the woman does not want it, that is grand. There is nothing wrong with having too much information when one is sick. People can always say they do not want to deal with it. It strikes me as odd that this is not par for the course or part of the daily practice. It might be encouraged and individuals may do it but to my mind, it is a policy failure if it is not happening universally. Members were wrong to vote through the civil liability legislation without a mandatory requirement for open disclosure. Open disclosure should be mandatory and have legal underpinning.