Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all our witnesses. I have been educated over recent weeks. On Saturday I spoke to one of the injured women. She wishes to remain anonymous. She is here and her story is one of pain and horror and not being believed or trusted by our so-called best physicians. I want to mention two people in the Public Gallery: Melanie Power, a solicitor in Limerick, who has led the spotlighting of this, and Kitty Holland from The Irish Times, who has kept a focus on this in the media.

I have two questions but mostly I want to hear from our guests. I assure them of my full support. Their story has been unheard and, arising from what we heard today, the Government must take a series of actions. As a Fianna Fáil member, I will meet the Minister, Deputy Donnelly later this evening to bring these to the heart of Government. I understand there are two types of mesh in implants, namely, retropubic tape, TVT, and transobturator tape, TVT-O. The latter is the far more difficult type. It is implanted close to the obturator nerve in the groin area. I understand that, in Ireland, gynaecologists implant the TVT-O mesh whereas, in Britain, a gynaecologist is accompanied by an orthopaedic surgeon because of the complexity. There is obviously some discrepancy if, a few hundred miles across the Irish Sea, they believe two surgeons with different expertise and skill sets are required. In Ireland we do not see that yet. An eminent professor in Ireland, whom I will not name, has said that what is implanted in most medical cases should be capable of removal. Will Ms McLaughlin tell us why we do not use two surgeons in Ireland? Is anyone dealing with mesh removal in Ireland now and to what success? I use the term "success" very loosely.