Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Let us pull back and consider a woman who has had an incident in childbirth that has left her damaged. She may also be dealing with a baby with a catastrophic injury. Does Mr. Breen think it is appropriate that the next thing we put her through is to prove how much she has suffered? That seems lacking, as a way of going about things.

I understand that there may be a large variation. For example, a lady might say that she cannot walk. In fairly clear-cut cases where there is actual physical damage as opposed to crystal ball stuff, that is, how long someone will live, and an expert in the field is already involved, however, why are we putting women through two lots of experts? In the case of the Scally tribunal, there could be three sets of experts. I am not saying that the women would undergo physical exams. Rather, I am referring to the process through which they will have to go. It seems a cruel way of dealing with the issue. I understand about protecting the State's money, but it is an unpleasant way of going about this.