Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)

Ireland, unfortunately, has seen many abuse scandals but the tale of abuse suffered by the victims of symphysiotomy is a particularly squalid and vicious stain on our national history. I do not use the word "abuse" carelessly for I believe what was done to the women in question, as other Members have stated, was a form of institutionalised abuse. Ireland has failed these women. We failed them when we first inflicted this barbaric procedure on them, long after it had been discontinued in other developed countries. We failed them in 2003 when the then Minister for Health and Children refused to hold an inquiry. We failed them again in 2010 when the then Minister, Mary Harney, again refused an inquiry. The Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, has commissioned an independent review of the practice of symphysiotomy in Ireland due to be published soon.

The story does not stop there, however. We must be sure not to fail these women again. Some of the language and phrases emanating from professional medical institutions and State officials in the lead-up to the publication of this report has been concerning. Phrases such as "standard procedure for the time" and "emergency surgery only" have been wafted into the air to serve as a smokescreen to cover up some of the deliberate and planned actions in the use of this horrendous procedure which had lost credibility a long time ago. This was not a standard procedure in developed countries. To call it such adds further insult to the injuries suffered by the women in question, many of whom are from my area Louth and Meath.

The procedure was resurrected in Ireland, I believe, to facilitate a perverse and twisted interpretation of religious doctrine whereby women should continue to have children regardless of the impact on their health. Symphysiotomy was rejected by British doctors in 1855 while the French Society of Medicine rejected it as far back as 1798 at a time when the French were guillotining people by the thousands.

Last night some survivors of symphysiotomy came to Leinster House to tell their own stories. One woman spoke of how she was held down by nurses, her arms forced back, while a doctor sawed through her pubis in front of a theatre packed with students. She screamed at him to stop an operation for which her consent had neither been sought nor given. She said it was like she was forced to endure an aggravated sexual assault. This is a woman, a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, who is now in her 80s but still cannot sleep at night. She has been incontinent most of her adult life and has suffered a succession of health problems as a result of the injuries inflicted upon her. She was a young woman then when this horror was inflicted on her and occurred at a time when the world was still reeling at the atrocities carried out by the Nazis including their gruesome medical experiments that we know about now. As a young woman, she wondered how something such as that could have happened to her in her own country. An older woman now, she is yet to receive a comprehensive answer.

In the wake of the Cloyne report last year, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste rightly condemned the culture of secrecy, evasion and deceit that had characterised the response of the Catholic Church to the issue of child abuse. We cannot allow a similar culture to fester in the corridors of Departments and professional bodies. There are already far too many disturbing stories of women being denied access to their medical records or of their records being conveniently lost. Last night, a woman spoke of how the hospital in which she had given birth to her five children had no record of them. According to the hospital, they did not exist. Elements of official Ireland are seeking to air-brush history. We must have the truth and there must be a day of reckoning.

What practical measures can the House take and what can we, as public representatives, do? Deputies from all parties can begin today by giving the victims a voice, but we must ensure that voice is heard to good effect. There can be no further cover-ups or evasions. There must be access to some form of legitimate redress. A day rarely passes when I knowingly or otherwise do not encounter a friend, family friend, neighbour or member of the community in which I was born and reared who has not been directly affected by the impact of this barbaric procedure.

To facilitate the continuation of this process of redress, we should do as the Deputies opposite suggested and give consideration to a Bill to suspend the Statute of Limitations temporarily. There is a precedent, although the House does not need to be reminded of it. Only approximately 150 victims of symphysiotomy are with us. Many have passed on. We have failed these people too often and must not fail them again.

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