Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to be fair to everyone. We now know information which we did not know previously, particularly in relation to women being informed. It was assumed that women were being informed through their clinicians. Unfortunately, we now know that was not the case. That is what has caused a lot of controversy in this committee and a lot of trauma and hurt for the women themselves. I presume lessons have been learned in that regard. Is it the case that we are not relying on clinicians now? Are we still relying on clinicians to inform women into the future? Is the process changing? Can someone explain what happens now? At the meeting of 17 May, I made the point that because of the failure to put in place a check at the end point, we did not close the loop. I asked Mr. Gleeson who was responsible for ensuring the loop was closed. I was told it was not possible at the time to state who was responsible. Mr. Gleeson said it may or may not have been his responsibility. I asked him whether he would go away and reflect on whether it should have been his responsibility. Somebody needs to be held accountable. I am genuinely not looking for a head on a plate. Somebody needs to put their hand up and say "I was the person responsible for ensuring the loop was closed, but it did not happen and I apologise for it". Nobody has done that yet. I think somebody should do it. I want to give the people in the room an opportunity to take responsibility for the loop not being closed. If they can take responsibility for it now, and if they want to comment on it, the floor is open to them. I think it is important. Much of the stuff that is out there at the moment relates to the fact that the women who have been affected by this issue feel that nobody is being held accountable and nobody is taking responsibility. That, outside of everything else they are going through, is causing hurt to these women. They see a lot of officials and politicians coming in and having a ding-dong back and forth without anybody putting up their hand and saying "I was responsible, I apologise, this will not happen again". Do we now know who was responsible for closing that loop? If that person is here, would he or she like to make a comment?