Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)

I welcome this opportunity to say a few words on the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital inquiry. As a Deputy from County Meath, it would be remiss of me not to speak on the issue of the inquiry report compiled by Judge Maureen Harding Clark. Since the closing of the maternity unit in Trim, County Meath, long before I was born, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital was and still remains the core maternity unit for the county.

I had not been a Deputy for long when a near neighbour arrived at my office, told me her story and explained what had happened to her as a patient of Dr. Neary. As a young and new politician I wanted to have an open mind in terms of believing that this could happen, but I found it horrific. I am glad I listened to her story and believed her, but it would have been easy to turn someone away and say that such could not have happened. Sadly, it still happens every day of the week that people bring their stories to Deputies, local councillors and others, and we doubt they are true. We often do not follow the matters through to the end. Reports such as this highlight how important it is for all of us to investigate and believe every story we hear.

The Acting Chairman is dealing with a gentleman in County Sligo who, after his daughter was killed on a certain road surface, told as many people as he could for a number of years that the bad road surface was at fault. However, no one wanted to listen. Sadly, they are now listening because five more young girls were killed on the same road surface in County Meath last year. It often takes many tragedies for people to listen and we all have a responsibility, especially those of us in the House, to listen to people with stories to tell, who want to highlight something that is wrong, tragic and should never have happened.

Recent years have been a rollercoaster and this report is a milestone for the Patient Focus group and the women and families involved. It is a reality check for the health service and the country at large. In recent years there have been illusions of safety and the belief in our health service has been shattered like never before, mainly because of the malpractice of people such as Dr. Neary in Drogheda. In this report, we are confronted with people who through their manner, experience and training, felt they had earned the right to expect — indeed, took on themselves — the mantle of being above question and whose decisions were final. No one is above question and everyone should be accordingly monitored.

Our health is our wealth and we should be able to entrust to doctors our lives and the lives of our families. Sadly, this report highlights and proves that the trust we place in doctors can be and often is abused by the likes of Dr. Neary and others. To give some meaning and add quality to life, we all need something to believe in. For some it is God, for others it is the seasons and for others it is faith in humanity. We have the right to a health system that will serve our best interests and an authority we can trust which should protect nobody but the patient.

The Government must act quickly to restore faith in the health service. Recommendations from this report must be implemented immediately. Merely complimenting and acknowledging the report and then leaving it to gather dust is not enough. Investigations serve no purpose if changes are not made. This report is essential to those who were hurt and also to ensure nothing like this happens again.

I compliment Patient Focus, which worked tirelessly for over eight years. I urge the group, many of whose members were in Leinster House today, to keep up the fight. Without the group's efforts this report would not be before us. Unless someone campaigns for them, necessary inquiries into the health service will not take place.

Members of this House must ensure the doors remain open. Inquiries such as this provide an opportunity and we must give groups such as Patient Focus a better hearing. The Government and the Tánaiste must learn from this and must open doors for other groups with stories to tell and cases to fight. The Parents for Justice group, whose members' lives are also on hold during the quest for answers, needs to know why children's organs were removed without parents' consent.

Another group looking for answers in the north-eastern area is the birth asphyxia group. It seeks answers to how new-born babies suffer from a lack of oxygen but its questions are not being answered. The Government should learn from this case. Why did it take eight years to reach this stage? Is it because doors were closed and people were in the way? Members do not have an open mind to hear everyone's stories.

Over the years, Governments — I refer to no specific party — have relinquished their duty of care to the citizens. The failure of Government and the State in this case is obvious. It never ensured its duty of care was being exercised. The most important job of Government is to care for the people it is elected to serve. Any breach of this duty of care, whether it affects the old, young, healthy or sick, is one of the greatest crimes of which a Government could be guilty. We must act on inquiries such as this and make changes. We should also listen to parents who have been hurt.

In 1979 the matron of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where I was born, reported to the authorities what she considered unusual activity in the maternity unit. Almost 20 years later, in 1998, these activities resurfaced. Full credit must be given to those in the former North Eastern Health Board who investigated the allegations. A midwife and Dr. Ambrose McLoughlin, as well as parents and concerned families, were instrumental in exposing this scandal. Without the efforts of these people we would not be discussing this report. Rather, we would be meeting such groups in Buswells Hotel or having quiet chats in County Louth or County Meath. We fail when we do not help such groups to fight their cause.

What were the authorities doing for the previous 20 years? How could the three eminent physicians sent to investigate have reported a clean bill of health? Without wishing to sound vindictive, these three physicians and their colleagues should face an inquiry to establish their role in this matter and determine whether it is necessary to investigate other hospitals. Did similar events occur in other hospitals? The Lourdes hospital inquiry report has been acclaimed as fine work from which many lessons can be taken but it raises as many questions as it answers. The report does not bring closure to the cases and we must finish this process.

If Dr. Neary was neither bad nor evil, what was he?

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