Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister.

My thoughts are with all the families who have suffered unimaginable heartbreak and have had this further compounded this week. This has added to their grief when their grief is so overwhelming that they are already just trying to cope with it.

This week I was contacted by a lady whose son was born in January 2020 at 24 weeks. She has asked that she and her family remain anonymous but she wants me to tell his story here today. Her son was born in CUMH. He lived for one day. He spent that day surrounded by their love and then, sadly, he passed. CUMH asked for an autopsy to be carried out and she agreed. She signed the release form on the condition that her son's remains would be buried in the Garden of the Angels in Curraghkippane in Cork. She and her family held a funeral for their son and began what I can only imagine is the toughest grieving process anyone can go through. She has spent the past 18 months grieving her child and believing that his remains, as she had been promised, were in the Garden of the Angels. On Monday, she received a phone call from the bereavement nurse in CUMH to let her know that a family had discovered something - and "something" is the key word here - that also affected her baby and it would be in the media. She was not told what that "something" was and was instead left to find out on social media and the television, radio and newspapers. This is unimaginable and morally wrong. For the past three days, this grieving mother has waited for a phone call or an apology, or even a recognition of what has happened. She is still waiting because no one from the HSE or CUMH has been in touch. As soon as one family discovered this horrific tragedy, all families involved should have been informed. It should not have taken RTÉ for families to be told that something was coming out.

These families were left with so many unanswered questions. I was asked to ask the Minister three questions here today. When CUMH could not bury their son's remains as agreed, why were the families not contacted? When they realised that the remains could no longer be held in CUMH, why were the families not contacted? When the families were finally contacted on Monday, why were they not given the full story? Will the Minister make sure that someone makes contact with this lady and the rest of the families today to ensure they get the answers they need and the apology they deserve? A press statement is no way to issue an apology.

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