Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a matter of the utmost sensitivity and seriousness that Deputy Martin raises. I do not think anybody can disagree with the sentiments expressed about the impact on parents of the death of their children, in this case, Nathan, Joshua and Mark. All parents can understand how that impacts on the parents' lives. This is a matter of the gravest concern.

The Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, was deeply shocked by this programme and by the revelations that came therefrom. He spent six hours on Sunday with the parents of the children, in a private way talking to them about their stories and the impact of their feelings about what happened. He met Natasha Molyneaux, Shauna Keyes and Joey Cornally, and Roisin and Mark Molloy, all parents of exceptional diligence and commitment in wanting to find out the truth of what happened here. As one said, when she was transferred to a different hospital she felt treated like a mother.

The Minister wrote to the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Health and Children expressing grave concerns over a number of areas, not least the manner in which families were dealt with following the tragic death of their newborn infants. He is anxious that we would learn from these past mistakes, inefficiencies and tragedies and, therefore, parents must have a proper, full and comprehensive access to information and communication about all of this.

The HSE will now meet all the families concerned to discuss how their legitimate complaints can be fully addressed. The Minister has instructed the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Holohan, to prepare a report on the cases. That report will be of use to HIQA in deciding the scope and nature of investigations to take place.

The Minister for Health has clearly indicated that he is not happy with the situation in so far as Portlaoise hospital is concerned and that the hospital, no more than all others, should be in a position to provide a safe service to expectant mothers. Everybody knows the figures, in terms of safety for maternity and births in the country.

The Minister directed earlier this year that a new patient safety agency would be established this year. If this had been in place a number of years ago, these kind of cases might not have arisen in the first place. Everybody in the health service needs to understand that there are lessons to be learned from this kind of adverse event.

Finally, a national policy on open disclosure has been jointly developed by the HSE and the State Claims Agency and was launched by the Minister for Health in 2013. This is designed to have an open and consistent approach to communicating with patients when things go wrong in the health care area. That policy has been rolled out across the country.

It is not sufficient for people to say there have been inadequate budgets provided here. Portlaoise's has been reduced by less than 1%. Based on projected spending, not on historic budgets, the focus has to be on the delivery of absolute safety in respect of maternity for all the expectant mothers in the country. There is a proud record to be lived up to. Unfortunately, in these cases this was not so. The Minister has asked for a immediate response from the Chief Medical Officer and will obviously come back to the House on that.

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