Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Over two weeks ago, a woman called Mary Kerr, who was a symphysiotomy survivor, died. As she was unable to do so, her family were active in fighting for justice for her, a justice she will now never get.

In response to a question yesterday from Deputy Adams on the Magdalen laundries, the Tánaiste made the point that time is not on the side of the Magdalen laundries survivors. Time is not on the side of symphysiotomy survivors either. The Taoiseach told us last week that the reason for the delay in dealing with this issue was that the Minister for Health was considering the final draft of the Walsh report, which report he has had for seven weeks now, so as to ensure the appropriate treatment for the women concerned. There is no appropriate treatment for symphysiotomy. The damage done to these women decades ago cannot be undone. Many of them have had up to 25 operations and some have never left their homes. Husbands lost their wives and children their mothers. This is not a matter of health, it is a matter of justice. Comparisons with the Magdalen laundries are totally inappropriate. What we are talking about in respect of symphysiotomy survivors is personal injuries as a result of gross medical negligence.

The Tánaiste's party colleague, Mr. Fergus Finlay, identified earlier this week that the draft Walsh report was a much criticised document. The report was based on a central flaw that the barbaric practice of symphysiotomy was medically acceptable, which is simply not the case. The idea that the final report will add anything new is highly suspect. In light of this, why are we waiting for the final report? The only conclusion one can draw, and it is one being drawn by many of the survivors, is that far from grappling with the legacy injustice as best it can, the Government appears to be engaged in an attempt to deny access to the courts to the ageing victims of symphysiotomy by long-fingering the issues, while holding out the possibility of redress. In other words, it is coercing the victims into acceptance. I do not make that point in any way lightly.

The House unanimously supported Deputy Ó Caoláin's Bill to lift the statutory bar and allow the women access to the courts. We should have disposed of the legislation by now. Is the Tánaiste aware that two weeks ago the national membership of Survivors of Symphysiotomy, which represents 98% of the victims of the practice, unanimously voted to reject any redress scheme based on a Magdalen type arrangement and urged the Government to negotiate with its executive to achieve a just and fair settlement of its legal actions? Can the Tánaiste, before the House breaks up for the summer, give the women an assurance that the Government will listen to and deliver a solution for them?

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