Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Any woman who is concerned has been asked to contact her hospital. All those records will be examined and will be made available to the review. The reality is that Ireland is one of the safest places in the world to give birth. We have very low levels of infant mortality, maternal mortality and perinatal mortality relative to other countries. That is something for which we should be grateful.

As far as I am concerned, as Minister for Health and Children, any error is an error too much. Everything we are seeking to do is with the objective of minimising the capacity for errors. In particular, it is about making sure we are open and transparent. There is a requirement on hospitals, for example, to notify the State Claims Agency of all adverse events. Everything I have learnt indicates that it is only by open disclosure and admitting errors that people will learn how to put things right. The purpose of all we are doing is to learn from errors that occur so that we minimise the capacity of those mistakes ever recurring, recognising that there will never be an error-free world when it comes to health.

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