Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I wish to move on to the retrieval of records as mentioned in the opening statement and the video presentation. At the meeting on 17 May, we were told that women would be facilitated in getting their records in the context of the experience of a person going to Limerick and not being able to get her records having been raised. We are now being told that in the absence of fully computerised electronic healthcare records, the retrieval process entails a manual search for records going back many years in some cases and potentially over a number of sites and that, although the HSE is committed to meeting the 30-day target, that does not always happen. We understand that records may go back for a significant period and that people may wish to access their full health records but the scope of this issue is relatively narrow. People will not look for their records because they had a broken toe when they were aged five. Specific records are being sought. We were given an assurance at that meeting that there would be no obstacles to the retrieval of such records but it now appears that issues are arising because the HSE does not keep records in a certain way. Is there an obstacle to women getting their records within the 30-day timeframe? We are being made aware of issues in that regard.