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

I was prompted to raise this matter once more by reports in the Sunday newspapers which indicated that the Coombe hospital did not have full insurance prior to 1961 and which highlighted the prospect that it would be obliged to bear the cost of claims related to the 14 symphysiotomies carried out in it between 1950 and 1967. Frenzied calls were then made in respect of bankruptcy by some of the patient associations. These calls were not repeated by the Minister or the survivors of symphysiotomy. The claims of bankruptcy have clearly been exaggerated, but the real issue relates to how we might obtain justice for those women who were so cruelly butchered in their prime. I am somewhat concerned about both the origin and timing of the story. It emerged against the background that, relatively soon, the Minister who is examining the Murphy report would be making an announcement on how he proposed to deal with this issue. I again record the determination of the survivors that they will not be corralled into any sort of redress scheme. I do not know whether the story relating to the Coombe - one of the hospitals in which only a small number of symphysiotomies were carried out - has been put out in order to create a climate against the women taking the type of legal action I believe they are entitled to pursue.

It is clear that the damage visited on the women to whom I refer cannot be undone. Some were obliged to undergo 25 operations following the initial procedure and left immobilised while in the prime of their lives. In many instances, children were robbed of their mothers, while husbands were robbed of their wives. The women in question were obliged to suffer incontinence and chronic pain for decades. In some ways, this is not a health issue at all; it should be treated as one of justice. One of the important points to make is that the survivors have made it clear time and again that they view it as one of personal injury caused by gross medical negligence. They need this to be acknowledged before there can be any closure in this matter. The judgment handed down in January by the European Court of Human Rights in the O'Keeffe case vindicated the position of the survivors of symphysiotomy, namely, that redress schemes are not adequate in addressing the needs of the victims of human rights abuses. It is clear that the women to whom I refer are the victims of such abuses.

The women in question have stated any scheme based on the Magdalen laundry model would be unacceptable because wrongdoing would not be admitted and due to the fact the levels of restitution would fail to reflect the damage done to them. References to payments in excess of €50,000 being made on a phased basis appear to be a cynical ploy aimed at ensuring the women who are elderly will die before they receive full compensation. If a Magdalen laundry model were adopted, there would also be no right of appeal and the right of the women concerned to independent legal representation would be denied. Some members of the Survivors of Symphysiotomy group have indicated that such a scheme would be one of the worst imaginable and that they are not interested in pursuing it. The group offered to meet the Minister over one year ago in order to discuss their proposals with regard to what they believed would constitute an adequate and acceptable settlement. Such a settlement could facilitate the provision of more appropriate restitution along the lines of what the courts were offering but with a haircut to reflect both the austere economic times in which we are living and the fact that legal actions would not be taken.

However, they also require an individualised assessment and independent medical and legal supports such that the compensation paid would reflect the range of injuries inflicted on them. I call on the Minister to reconsider that position and to agree to meet the survivors of symphysiotomy to negotiate a settlement. If the Minister imposes a settlement it will only result in their going to the Irish and European courts to seek justice.

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