Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I welcome the fact the Minister for Health and Children met Patient Focus yesterday. I also welcome the women in the Visitors Gallery who were injured so brutally. I appreciate that the detail of the compensation scheme may not be available yet but the Minister can give us certain assurances today. Will she ensure that all women affected will be included in the compensation scheme, that is, not just those who came within the terms of reference of the report but also women who had their ovaries removed or women whose babies died in the unit? Will Patient Focus and the women be involved in drawing up the terms of reference of the compensation scheme, as was indicated by the Minister?

With regard to how the scheme will be managed, will the Minister ensure that the women will not have to endure undue delay while the Minister, the insurers and the hospital wrangle about how much money each will contribute? Can the Minister state that the women will get their compensation and that she will then live up to her responsibility to protect the taxpayer? The women must come first. Will the report be referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children after next Wednesday's debate? The Taoiseach, rather curiously, said yesterday that some of the recommendations would be implemented and some would be taken into account. The phrase "taken into account" is code for not being implemented. Will the Minister differentiate between the ones that will and will not be implemented?

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