Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

As I said to Deputy Kenny, a Bill providing for repayments to those who had to pay long-stay charges will be presented to the Cabinet next week. It is intended that the legislation will be brought through the Oireachtas over the next few months and it is hoped that it will be passed by the summer. The legislation has proven to be quite complex as a result of issues relating to wards of court, etc. It is ready to be considered by the Cabinet.

The Taoiseach said yesterday that the Government is committed in principle to ensuring that women who were affected by the actions of Dr. Neary will be compensated. Although the Government has not formalised that position, we will discuss it shortly. I was anxious to meet Patient Focus, the group representing the affected women, to hear its reaction to the report and to get its input into any redress proposal the Government might put in place. The intention is to ensure we bring closure as quickly as possible for the affected women. They have been waiting eight years. They have confidence in the judge and her report and they made that clear to me yesterday. They are anxious that the Government brings early closure to this.

There are issues surrounding insurance. Everyone in the House supports the notion that the taxpayer would be liable to a minimal extent, which may result in issues for insurers. However, we would not want the women affected to experience a delay in their compensation while the Government pursues the issue with insurers. The matter may require legislation and is being examined by the Attorney General.

Yesterday, I met four representatives of the medical board of the hospital and the hospital's management team. I am satisfied that there is a determination to put into effect the recommendations of this report, especially those concerned with audit and information. Mr. John O'Brien and his team from the national hospitals office will visit the hospital to discuss a precise timeframe with the management and the clinicians. The college of obstetrics has an inspectorate and a training function in this regard. Representatives from the college visited Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in 1987 and 1992. They made recommendations following their visit in 1992 which were not implemented. I want to discuss with them how we can ensure that recommendations made will have an impact on patient safety. I also want to have discussions with the Medical Council.

Patients' safety should come before the ethos of any institution. Patient care and safety must be paramount. Professor Drumm and the HSE are very determined to ensure that appropriate standards of safety are in place across the hospital system. Given the recommendations of this report, it is particularly important that we look at what the judge called "isolated units" that may be operating in the health system and not just in obstetrics. I believe that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is now the safest place in the country. The hospital has seven obstetricians and two or three of them will discuss each individual case. The same applies with the anaesthetists. We want to ensure that multidisciplinary team work occurs across the different specialties in all hospitals.

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