Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the delegates for being here and allowing us to listen to part of their stories about losing their babies. I have read the report. I was not here for the meeting last week, but I have read the transcript and listened to the playback of it. I learned that the delegates had been treated barbarically. "Barbarically" is the only word I can find having read the report on what happened. Many people have referred to the courage of the delegates in being here. It is more than courage; it is about determination. They have a clear agenda. Mr. Mark Molloy has spoken very well about that clear agenda and said he does not want any other family to have to go through the torture, torment and heartbreak his went through. The delegates, in their capacity as individuals and parents, are here to ensure no other parent will have to go down the road they went down.

As a mother and grandmother, I thank the delegates. I have not had similar experiences, but I recall that when my girls went to have their babies, it was a very difficult time all round. One is anxious when one's baby decides to have a baby and goes into hospital to have it. One spends the night walking the floor waiting for news. It is a terrifying time, not only for the young mother but also for the grandparents.

There is one point in the document that jumps out and which I find very chilling and heartbreaking. It makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach. I used the word "barbarically" because I felt sick in the knowledge that people could be put through such a process and treated in such a bad way.

One of the things that jumped out of the report was that many women feared having future pregnancies. That is a terrible indictment on any hospital to have somebody leave a maternity unit feeling that way. We know that babies die before or during birth, but it is just tragic when healthy people go in to have a precious gift they were waiting for and not come out with it. The fear of not being able to have a further pregnancy caps it all.

I will refer to a short extract from the HIQA report's summary document because it jumped off the page at me:

However, it is apparent that, despite overwhelming evidence to indicate that the local management team at Portlaoise Hospital was struggling to deliver the service, there is no evidence to show that the regional HSE managers took effective control of the situation at that time.

To me, that is exactly what Mr. Ollie Kelly said a few minutes ago. There were many people there who would have been able to control the situation and look after it, but they did not think it was their responsibility, or they did not take on that responsibility.

When I listened to the playback on last week's meeting, I heard the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, speak about incorporating the maternity service at Portlaoise into a clinical network with the Coombe hospital and St. Vincent's University Hospital. I heard him say that this procedure is not in place at the moment, but they hope to have it in place. Do the witnesses believe that in future this will help to alleviate some of the difficulties and prevent inaction at Portlaoise hospital for women going there to give birth? Will it help in any way?