Results 65,981-66,000 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Double Taxation Agreements: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I understand.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome our guests and thank them for their introductory remarks. We all empathise with women and with anybody who receives a service which results in their having an ongoing life-changing issue. How many post-mesh cases have been dealt with and have been recorded here in the South and on the island of Ireland?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I thank Ms McLaughlin. She has kindly told us about full removal compared with partial removal. To what extent does partial removal continue to take place, if at all?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: It appears that there is a significant lack of data, information and advice about this matter. I am strongly of the opinion that there should be an immediate appraisal of the number of people on waiting lists, the number of people who have had treatment, the nature of the treatment and the results. Those data are required in order to address the issue fully. Is it possible to do that in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: Wait a second. I would like the answer first. Can that be done?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: How many minutes do we have?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I know they are. The entire scenario seems to be surrounded by a lack of information, failure to address the issues and so on. I do not want to make too much comment other than to say that it is an appalling vista for anyone looking in from the outside to see women being treated in that fashion and put on waiting lists in that fashion. That does not solve the problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome our guests. I just have a couple of questions. It appears to me there is a great deal of contradiction and confusion with the advice and prompt availability of assistance to the women who have been affected. The level of pain and suffering they have endured as a result of the procedure, in particular, and the neglect as they see it of a proper response to the calls for help....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: Why did these women go abroad?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: Was there medical evidence or support available for or against their going abroad?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: Did they have medical advice before going abroad as to what they might do in those circumstances?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I have a last question. Has the HSE----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I know, but I am asking a medical question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I was interrupted in mid-flow, which is something I object to strongly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: I am sorry. I just need to record my objection to being interrupted in the course of my question. I never interrupt anyone. I make it a rule not to. I never cut in on anybody else's questioning. However, if it is going to become the norm to do so, I will respond in like kind. I just want to register my protest. Whom can I ask questions of now and for how long?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: Has the HSE compiled a priority list of the patients who have an urgent need of consultation? Has that consultation taken place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: What about the women who went overseas for treatment, which is not highly regarded or regarded to the extent it should be here? What about them? Was any advice available to them as to where they could go most conveniently to receive treatment as a matter of urgency?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: Should there not be a system to advise women as to the better service and options available in those circumstances?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaginal Mesh Implants: Discussion (29 Jun 2022)

Bernard Durkan: From the information made available to us already and having listened to the women who were so affected, would it not be fair to conclude that a better organised system is required in terms of dealing with the situation in the first place, and rather than just telling women they can go to whatever service they require, which appears to be the case, referring the women to a reliable, known...