John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to put on the record that I have encountered the CEO, Ms Hardiman, on a number of occasions in my time as a public representative and I have no reason to question that she is a public servant of the highest integrity. I have no reason to believe that Dr. Goldman, or his two colleagues here, should not be considered in the same light. That does not detract, obviously, from the questions we must ask them.

Coming back to the letter, I do not want to invest too much importance in it. For me, the letter was important for the following reason: the consultant orthopaedic surgeon is raising in it, to a layman, a number of procedures, techniques and possible use of equipment that would not necessarily be standardised. It might be slightly out of the norm, but it seemed to be a standard enough approach and they were looking for guidance. Let us accept that Ms Hardiman did not receive this letter, but there does not seem to be anything secretive about it. It is not presented in a dramatic case. It seems to be matter of course. It states:

The solutions presented to families will be Drummond technique for [a particular professor] and a spring assisted distraction device for me. Both techniques are not commercially available. We have told families and told them these are an off label and experimental techniques using devices not designed for this purpose.

That seems to go to the heart of some of the things that are going on here. From a reportage point of view, this letter is copied to Professor McCormack in Temple Street. It might be useful, as part of the investigation, if Ms Hardiman did not receive it as CEO but if Professor McCormack received it. That is the first point. A piece of this letter seems to be describing an environment in which unusual techniques and maybe not recommended equipment is not usual, notwithstanding the investigation and the oversight that is required. That is one question.

In regard to the clinic environment, is there a reasonable possibility that the pressures under which surgeons, doctors and the medical team operate in restricted environments are not ideal, as we await the long-awaited children's hospital? Have the outcomes here been a function of that environment? Have there been any complications with CE equipment or approved equipment similar to the complications that arose here?