Ms Amy Delahunt:

With regard to the meeting in Portlaoise last week with all the families, the microphone was passed around for more than five hours and everyone told their story. As has been said, everyone was told: "You were the only one." It was the same doctors' names and midwives' names that were being mentioned again and again. A couple stood up at the other side of the room and they talked about the death of their little baby boy in 2007. They had an inquest into their little baby's death in 2008 and they came out and they had eight recommendations in their report. I was thinking when we had Mary Kate's inquest in December that we came out thinking we had done a good thing, that we had done a service going to the public forum of having an inquest. We had the recommendations and that was her little purpose but to find out there was a family doing the exact same thing in 2008, 2009 and up all along, it just feels at times as if the HSE has one long to-do list and says, "We will do that and we will do that", but nothing ever gets done.

A few of the families mentioned doctors and medical staff having a God-like complex as if they were untouchable. If there is no accountability, it makes the parents and the families feel like the deaths of their babies and their injuries did not matter, that Mary Kate's life did not matter and baby Mark's life did not matter and all the other babies. They did matter and these staff should be held accountable. Until they are held accountable, there will be absolutely no improvement in service.