Mary Henry (Independent)

The report launched yesterday on the inquiry by Judge Harding Clark was not into the medical practices of one man, it was an inquiry into medical practice in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, over a 25-year period. We should have a debate on this as soon as possible because, unfortunately, the ethos of the hospital contributed significantly to what happened there. We need to look at what happened in the past but we also need to address the fact that there are public hospitals in this country where the hospital's ethos comes before the ethos of the woman and her consultant, even though that practice may be perfectly legal in this State and the woman may be in a hospital which was not of her choosing. I urge the Leader to arrange to have this debate as soon as possible because this issue is extremely serious for Irish women today, not just the practice of one man over 25 years in one hospital.