Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Symphysiotomy is an issue which, unfortunately, has hugely impacted on my constituency. Many women in our community have been left with lifelong disability and it has been a life of trauma and upset for both the women and their families. Symphysiotomy procedures dropped off after the 1960s in most parts of the country in favour of caesarean sections, but not at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where they were, unfortunately, carried out right into the 1980s.

I welcome the fact many women were offered compensation under the surgical symphysiotomy ex gratiapayments scheme but this was not the scheme the survivors or their supporters wanted after they had endured a long, hard fight to get to this stage.

Liability was never admitted by the medical profession or others, and the survivors were not afforded the opportunity to give oral evidence, to tell their story or have their voices heard. While some women who underwent the procedure made a full recovery, many who had a symphysiotomy have suffered significant pain, illness and psychological damage as a result of the procedure. It is only right that this is recognised by the State and by Irish society.

It comes as a disappointment that the Harding Clark report and media coverage of it left a bad taste in some of the survivors' mouths. There was much focus on the women who did not receive payments under the scheme and the inference is that they were confused or deluded, or even that they were lying. This does a disservice to the women involved. As the inquiry only accepted written evidence, it was difficult to prove that a medical procedure had taken place 60 or 70 years ago. Doctors pass away, medical records are lost - even disposed of - and memories fade. Many women were not even told that they had undergone a symphysiotomy and they did not realise what was the cause of their symptoms or the agony that they went through until many years later. In the absence of medical records, the scheme employed radiological evidence and medical assessments. Survivors of symphysiotomy have stated that this type of evidence is not conclusive for a myriad of reasons, for instance, scars fade, the gap in the pelvis made by this procedure can heal itself. Women have endured a long history as second-class citizens but the Harding Clark report did not do justice to many of the survivors of symphysiotomy.

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