Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"—deplores the abuse of trust and assault on the dignity of patients inherent in the actions that resulted in Mr. Michael Shine being struck off the medical register by the Medical Council;

recognises the difficulty patients have in coping with such a profound abuse of trust;

supports the Minister for Health and Children in having met last week with Dignity 4 Patients, a support group for former patients of Mr. Michael Shine, to discuss the group's call for an inquiry and welcomes the Minister's firm commitment to revert to the group during July, after she has discussed the issues involved with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Attorney General, and conferred with her Cabinet colleagues;

notes that on 25 November 2008 the Medical Council formally notified the Minister for Health and Children of its decision to remove Mr. Michael Shine from the medical register, after considering a report of its Fitness to Practice Committee which found him guilty of professional misconduct in respect to three out of nine allegations made by male patients;

notes that in 1995 a non-statutory review of the hospital's response to the allegations against the consultant was conducted by an independent review group chaired by Dr. Miriam Hederman O'Brien, reporting to the management board of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, with the co-operation and support of the North Eastern Health Board and the Department of Health and Children;

acknowledges that, in line with the review group's recommendations, the Trust in Care guidelines, dealing with allegations of sexual abuse by members of staff, a chaperone system and an intimate examination protocol and procedure have been put in place in the hospital concerned;

welcomes the introduction by the Minister for Health and Children of a statutory complaints procedure for the health service in January 2007;

welcomes the enactment of the Medical Practitioners Bill 2007 and, in particular, the provisions relating to a lay majority on the Medical Council and the holding of fitness to practise inquiries in public;

welcomes the introduction in March this year of the protected disclosure provisions of the Health Act 2007 to facilitate the disclosure by employees of matters of concern to them;

commends the actions of the Government in putting in place the 1999 Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children;

welcomes the counselling and support services put in place for former patients of the consultant concerned and the appointment of a senior official within consumer affairs in the HSE to liaise as required with former patients and support groups;

notes that the previous owners of the hospital, the Medical Missionaries of Mary, set aside a portion of the proceeds from the sale as a fund to address any claims arising from cases of sexual abuse;

notes that the Garda Síochána is currently investigating complaints alleging criminal assault and will forward, if warranted by the investigation, a file to the law officers for their consideration; and

encourages the liaison between the Garda Síochána and the support group assisting those affected.

I wish to share my time with the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, and Deputies Charlie O'Connor, Johnny Brady and Thomas Byrne.

As the Deputies opposite said, we can all agree that the issue at the heart of the motion is one we deeply deplore. The assault on patients which was at the heart of the Medical Council's decision to strike Mr. Shine off the medical register was truly a betrayal of trust of his patients. It interfered in a very fundamental way with the privileged relationship between doctor and patient. When the issue came to light in 1995, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Michael Noonan, addressed the House on it on many occasions. I say this simply to put the record straight, not as a criticism of Deputy Noonan. He was asked by the very same person mentioned in the House this evening, Bernadette Sullivan, to hold an inquiry. He made a decision and said he would await the outcome of the hospital inquiry which, clearly, was not satisfactory. Subsequently, Dr. Miriam Hederman O'Brien was asked to carry out an inquiry with the co-operation of the Department of Health, the then Minister and the health board. She reported in June 1996 and on foot of her report, the then Minister, the Department and the health board did not believe a further inquiry was warranted, other than implementation of the recommendations made in the report. All along, I accepted the decision made on that occasion. It was a judgment decision.

I have initiated eight inquiries since becoming Minister for Health and Children. It has been an unprecedented era of inquiries because, thankfully, we live in a different environment. We have had an inquiry into the events at Leas Cross——

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