James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I refer the Deputy to my earlier statement that the family's views will be included in the overall report of the review team and that a final report from the external review committee will be submitted to the HSE in the coming weeks. I agree with the Deputy and share his concern that people would be reassured of the safety of the service.

To make a general point, we have an excellent service, delivered by excellent people, but they are people and to err is to be human.

What we have to put in place is a system that protects patients from human error because human error will always occur and will always be with us. This is why the outcome of this report is so important. It will serve to protect from further incidents of this type and, without being prejudicial, determine whether we can learn from this to ensure that similar things do not occur again or that the service becomes safer. For example, in respect of Portlaoise we know that reports were done and put on a shelf. Nothing was learned from them and the same mistakes were made repeatedly. Certainly, we do not want to see that occur again. I believe that with the introduction of hospital groups and the service being brought into a hub and spoke model we can have available the level of expertise that supports professionals and protects patients.

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