Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish once again to convey my sympathies to the family of the woman at the centre of this case.

As the House will know, this case concerned a woman who was brain dead, pregnant and on life support for a number of weeks in a hospital in the State. An application was brought to the High Court by the woman’s family to withdraw somatic life support. Clinicians decided not to do so for fear of legal repercussions arising from Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution. The case was heard in the High Court on 23 and 24 December 2014 by a panel of three judges. The family, the HSE, the interest of the unborn and the mother were all represented, and medical evidence from consultants in intensive care and obstetrics was heard. On 26 December the court issued its judgment authorising the withdrawal of ongoing somatic support.

The HSE has advised me that it is unable to provide the full legal and medical costs relating to this case at the current time. As is normal, legal fees arising from court actions take some time to be submitted and settled. In any event, it is not usual as a general rule to provide cost details at individual level in respect of specific patients as both technical and privacy issues arise in making and providing such calculations. While it will be possible at a certain point to calculate the legal costs, it may not be possible to calculate the medical costs. No additional staff were employed as a result of the case. While an ICU bed was used, it would have been used in any case, albeit by somebody else.

I expect to receive further information from the HSE on this case as part of my consideration of the High Court judgment and its implications as I wish to ascertain what lessons may need to be learned from this extremely sad and unfortunate case. As I mentioned perviously, I fully believe clinicians should be able to make challenging ethical decisions in consultation with their patients and their families, as appropriate, on the basis of best clinical practice rather than on foot of legal advice or under the fear of prosecution.

I ask that the privacy of this family be respected and that it be given the appropriate time and space to grieve its loss.

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