Mary Moran (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, to the House. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead Labour Party Senators in this Labour Party motion on symphysiotomy. I welcome the many survivors in the Visitors Gallery today and those who contacted me in recent weeks and months, who could not be here today but are following the proceedings on the Internet. The response I have received on this issue from many different people and the media has been fantastic, which shows how important everyone takes this issue.

It is almost one year since I was elected to the Seanad. During the past year I have taken a keen interest in the plight of victims of symphysiotomy and have attended many meetings where I have been over-awed by the courage, bravery, resilience and quest of those involved to attain natural justice for what happened to them. As we have heard already, symphysiotomy was a dangerous childbirth operation performed in Ireland from approximately 1920 to the early 1980s. It involved severing the symphysis joint or in the case of pubiotomy, cutting the pubic bone. Up to 1,500 of these operations were performed in Ireland between 1944 and 1992, with approximately 150 known survivors. As a result of symphysiotomy many of the women involved are living their lives in constant pain, suffer from incontinence and many have suffered serious psychological affects, as evidenced from the many briefings we have had throughout this year from the victims.

I read yesterday of a case of symphysiotomy carried out in 1992. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital has been regularly mentioned as a hospital which carried out this procedure. Four of my five children were born at that hospital, two of them by 1992 and one in 1993. My fourth child was born in Louth hospital which also carried out this procedure. It is frightening to hear this procedure was being carried out only a short time ago. Symphysiotomy procedures were, it appears, performed in some hospitals more than others. It appears to have been favoured in some hospitals run by religious orders. One woman told me yesterday of how she was told she was having a symphysiotomy because she was a Catholic and was then advised to have at least ten pregnancies after it, following which she would be okay.

It has also been reported that symphysiotomy, despite the fact that it had been discontinued in all other European countries, was preferred to caesarean section as that would have meant giving family planning advice. Symphysiotomy was regarded as preferable to that. I welcome the support and services that are in place. I know having spoken to women in the north-east region that there are many such services in place. I acknowledge and commend these services, including the provision of medical cards for all those who have requested them, the appointment of a liaison officer and access to medical assessment, gynaecological assessment, counselling, reflexology, physiotherapy, osteopathy and acupuncture. However, I call on the Minister of State to do everything possible to ensure all the victims of symphysiotomy are aware and availing of these services.

What struck me most, having spoken to many of the women concerned, is that the majority of the women concerned are in the latter years of their lives. They may not perhaps be aware that as survivors of symphysiotomy they can access medical cards. I ask that everything be done to ensure they are looked after. I also ask the Minister, who I know has taken a keen interest in the proceedings to date, to seek publication of the Walsh report. I welcome the comment today that the report will be with the stakeholders at the end of the month, which is great news. I look forward to publication of the report and hope that, following its publication, we can have a further comprehensive debate in the Houses on the matter.

We owe it to the women concerned to do everything we can to ensure they receive adequate redress for what happened to them. I hope the report will provide a full and comprehensive response on the reason this procedure was performed more frequently in Ireland that in any other country in western Europe. I found it deeply upsetting to learn that the practise of symphysiotomy was often performed in Irish training hospitals. These hospitals were training doctors to perform the procedure in Third World countries as an alternative and cheaper solution to caesarean section in a difficult childbirth. I ask that the Minister consider how best we can ensure these victims achieve natural justice, be it by lifting the Statute of Limitations for a year or by setting up a redress board. It is important that justice is attained for these women who have suffered all their lives.

I acknowledge the Minister's commitment to bring closure for these women. I ask that we do not lose the opportunity to do so. We must stand up and commit to that which has already been agreed. The women concerned deserve an acknowledgement of what happened to them. It is only right and proper that they receive an apology in that regard. They must also be made aware of and have access to all the supports and services they need. I welcome the formation in recent months of the cross-party Oireachtas group in support of symphysiotomy. I welcome also the opportunity to be an active member of this group and acknowledge the support of all members of the Oireachtas on this issue. It is hoped that in calling for this debate today we have again highlighted the pain and anguish and need for redress for these women. I hope we can continue to further engage with the victims whom I stress must be at the heart of all our efforts. I ask that the Minister of State do all in her power to ensure that it is the victims who remain the first priority, that they are listened to at every stage and are consulted as a priority in every development. The practice of symphysiotomy has been tied up in secrecy for years. It is now time responsible groups came forward and acknowledged the wrong done to these ladies. Very often these victims were not told what had happened to them and many continued to live their lives in pain only to discover in recent years what has been done. I pay tribute to the "Prime Time" programme, which opened this up for us. There have been many disturbing stories of patients' records going missing or getting lost and we need to address this.

We must strive to attain closure for these brave and outstanding women who were so wronged by our country, many of whom I have met and who are from my own area of Louth-Meath, where symphysiotomy procedures were carried out in the Lourdes hospital. I repeat that many of these ladies are elderly and time is not on their side. We are talking about approximately 150 survivors. I know the Minister of State will not let these women down. The youngest survivor, who has come forward to date, is 47 years of age while the eldest is in her 90s. Many of these ladies are now frail and vulnerable and it is imperative that the Government does everything it can to ensure these victims receive acknowledgement and redress.

I pay tribute to the many victims we have met and who continue to support each other and who have provided invaluable help to each other over the past ten years. People in my own area, Olivia Kearney and Kathleen Naughton - I think Senator Burke referred to Mrs. Kearney earlier - have campaigned tirelessly to bring closure to this issue. To these and all the victims of symphysiotomy, I thank them for their bravery, courage and ongoing battle to ensure they attain the justice and closure they richly deserve.