Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate tonight and compliment my party colleague Deputy Kelleher on tabling the motion before us. I wish to start by offering my deepest sympathies to the families who have suffered the loss of a loved one. It is appalling that not only did they have to suffer that loss but they also had to deal with an unforgivable manner on the part of the HSE. The loss of a child was bad enough but was exacerbated by the fact that they had to fight tooth and nail to get the truth from the HSE. We have to remember that the HSE is an arm of the State. Not only did it fail in the context of the delivery of these children but it added insult to injury by the manner in which it dealt with their parents. There was a complete lack of compassion, respect or understanding. Were it not for the determination and drive of these parents, assisted by RTE, we might not have been any wiser this evening.

A report into a child's death in 2008 acknowledged that there was a failure to recognise that the baby was in distress during labour and that staff went on to administer the wrong drugs. The recommendations made on foot of that report to improve safety were never implemented. That lack of implementation had devastating consequences for families who came after, up to and including the loss of life. Previous speakers have singled out Mark and Róisín Molloy for the manner in which they pursued their baby's case vigorously over the last few years. They shared their harrowing experiences with us in the Dáil and with the wider public in the interest of ensuring that similar events never happen again.

The Government must acknowledge that wrong was done and must ensure that all maternity services are adequately resourced and fit for purpose. It is simply not good enough to designate a maternity unit as a grade three service if adequate resources are not provided for that unit. That is neither practicable nor safe. I do not want to get political because this is not an issue for political point making but how could the Government stand over the scenario in Portlaoise hospital? How could it say that it was a model three hospital when the resources were not in place to justify that status? Why did that happen? Was it for political reasons? Was it done as a result of the fallout from events at Roscommon hospital?

A review of all of our maternity services must be carried out now to ensure that expectant mothers can have the confidence that when they present to a maternity hospital, wherever it is located, they will get a premium level of service. Furthermore, as well as political accountability, we must also see accountability at a senior level within the HSE because senior staff of the executive were aware, every step of the way, of what was going on in the hospital at Portlaoise. With that accountability should come responsibility and consequences for those who did not act in the interests of patient safety. Unfortunately, the only people for whom there have been consequences to date are the families who lost their loved ones and that is simply not good enough.

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