Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The most disgusting aspect of the debacle is that the parents were told their innocent baby was stillborn when the baby was born alive. How can any health professional stand over this? Not only does it have major implications for how the birth is treated from a legal perspective, but far more importantly, it has far-reaching consequences for the mother, who will naturally question herself. Was it her fault that the baby was stillborn? Did she have a knock at some stage during the previous 40 weeks? This doubt delays the grieving process and the mother's ability to come to terms with the loss of her baby. This has an impact on her partner and any other children she may have. If that was not bad enough, in the case of little Mark Molloy, the way the truth was actively concealed from the parents is inhumane. This went right to the top of HSE. In the initial six weeks, phone calls to the hospital were not returned until a third party intervened. Two years on, the desktop review of the death of baby Mark has not been released to the family even though they have tried to obtain it under the Freedom of Information Act.

There is a litany of such examples throughout this case and others. This is not confined to Portlaoise but is systemic throughout the health service. A number of orthodontists in the west have been referred to the Dental Council for fitting used braces to children's mouths. These are braces that should have been destroyed, but no child in receipt of these braces has yet been contacted. I could go on and give other examples. We need mandatory medical disclosures to patients where something goes wrong and we should not rely on decisions being made behind legal closed doors that allow for risky practices to continue. Baby Mark, baby Nathan, baby Joshua and the other innocent baby deserve that.

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