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

I hope I can take the Minister's extra minute. The Survivors of Symphysiotomy group specifically requested that the Minister meet them to discuss their proposals for a settlement of survivors' actions. This is the meeting to which I am referring. Their needs include that the wrong be acknowledged and that restitution be in line with what has been awarded by the courts. In the Kearney v. McQuillan case Mrs. Kearney was awarded over €300,000. That was probably a mid-range case rather than one of the more severe cases. In other cases, figures of approximately €600,000 have been mentioned. The group are prepared to negotiate a haircut on those amounts but the key stumbling block is that there is no acknowledgement of wrongdoing. The Minister referred to the Walsh report, but that report was much criticised for the very reason that basically it stated that the practice of symphysiotomy was medically acceptable at that time, although it actually was not, and because there was no admission of wrongdoing. There is a belief that much of this is framed to protect the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the interests of certain members of that organisation. Furthermore, if hospitals are insured then individual medical practitioners are also so insured, and presumably their personal insurance could be called to account to pay for some of these debts and for the horrendous cruelty and damage inflicted on these women.

A repeat of the arguments that have been rejected by the overwhelming bulk of the survivors simply means we are going around in circles on this issue, and as a result I do not believe we will have a solution. Since he has said that he has met the group several times - I know he has - I call on the Minister to take up their invitation from one year ago to sit down and discuss precisely what they are seeking in respect of the legal actions. I fear that if this does not happen we will be dealing with European court cases, going to the United Nations committees and so on. Meanwhile, the women concerned are getting older and some of them have tragically died in the intervening years.

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