Marie Moloney (Labour)

I welcome all the survivors of symphysiotomy and those promoting their cause who are in the Visitors Gallery. I welcome the Minister of State who is a regular visitor to the House.

Symphysiotomy was advocated in 1597 and the first procedure on a human being took place in 1797. Given that society was primitive at that stage, one would have thought that medical procedures used in those ancient days would have been left behind in the 20th century. However, it is estimated that 1,500 Irish women, unknowingly and without consent, underwent symphysiotomies during childbirth between 1944 and 1992. Survivors were left with severe lifelong after effects including extreme pain, impaired mobility, incontinence and depression. I cannot understand how such a barbaric procedure was still being carried out up to as late as 1992. Obviously some in the medical profession will say it was a medical necessity, others firmly believe it was a religious ethic.

Senator MacSharry said he was not a medical authority, neither am I, but I am a mother. I gave birth to my first child in 1981. Unknowingly, I could have been one of the victims as I had a very difficult childbirth but, thankfully, I did not have to endure such a procedure. With no disrespect to the men in the House, one must have given birth to understand how vulnerable one is during childbirth, especially with one's first child. It may come as a surprise to some that women were treated by some gynaecologists as if they were imbeciles. I distinctly remember sitting up in bed, the morning after giving birth, when the gynaecologist was doing his rounds with a nurse. He asked the nurse beside me, "How is this woman feeling today?" He simply could not address the question to me in the bed. That was unbelievable.

Having sat and listened to the harrowing and heartbreaking stories of the surviving victims, some of whom are sitting in the Visitors Gallery, it is my duty to make a plea on their behalf. Many of these women, who at a young age believed the procedure they underwent was the norm, carried this secret for many years. They were afraid to speak up and take on the system. They had been dismissed by their general practitioners and told that the procedure was a medical requirement and had to be carried out. We know this was not the case. The consequences for victims who had no choice in the matter are devastating. The women who were victims of this barbaric act have suffered physical pain and mental and social torment for many years. Some have outlined in detail to us personal and intimate details of the consequences of living with the aftermath of symphysiotomy. Some are afraid to go out in public due to incontinence, some have indicated that their sexual lives suffered and, as a consequence, marriages have broken up. Some are experiencing such pelvic pain that, many years later, they are on morphine.

I welcome the introduction of the obstetrics and gynaecological clinical programme, led by Professor Michael Turner, the aim of which is to improve health care choices for women. While I acknowledge that the HSE has put in place facilities and support services to help the victims of symphysiotomy, they are still awaiting the long-promised Walshreport which was due to be published on 1 September 2011. I am pleased to note the Minister of State said the report will be published before the end of the month.

As the Minister of State will be aware many women have only recently become aware of the fact that what happened to them was symphysiotomy. Many are barred by the Statute of Limitations and the issue of delay. As there are only about 200 surviving victims an amendment to the Statute of Limitations would surely be less expensive on the State than a redress board. All victims of such a barbaric act, women who put their trust in their consultant, the doctor who delivered their babies, have a right to access to justice. The Minister of State is one of the most caring I have met. I say that with my hand on my heart. That is evident every day in her work on mental illness. I ask the Minister of State to go back to the Cabinet and make a case on behalf of victims and request the Minister for Health to consider amending the Statute of Limitations for at least a year. These women must be given a right to natural justice.

I commend the women who have spoken out and have highlighted the injustice. In particular, I pay tribute to Olivia Kearney who was the first woman to pursue a case through the courts and to the groups who are promoting the cause of survivors of symphysiotomy.