Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

All of us share Senator Darragh O'Brien's view that a way forward needs to be found in the inquiry into Savita Halappanavar's death. The trauma endured by her husband is compounded by the confusion surrounding the inquiry. Mr. Halappanavar stated when he returned to India after Savita's death that there was complete silence on the part of the HSE. He was not contacted by the hospital for a full two weeks. That is surprising, given that hospitals are obliged to conduct internal inquiries by their own risk review groups in the event of sudden deaths of this kind. Such a review should have commenced within hours of her untimely death and would surely have involved Mr. Halappanavar. This practice is common to all institutions. Were such incidents to happen in the Houses of the Oireachtas, an airport or a school, such an internal inquiry would be obligatory. The resulting report would indicate whether guidelines were followed and could establish the paper trail and facts surrounding Savita's death. I would like to know the status of the report of the review group and call on the Acting Leader to inquire of the Minister for Health as to its whereabouts. Given that Savita Halappanavar died almost one month ago, on 28 October, the internal report should have been completed by now and I ask that it be released immediately. If it has not been completed, why not? Has the review actually been started?

An independent inquiry must also take place. It cannot be organised or managed by the HSE because it has its own questions to answer. The inquiry could extend beyond an internal review aimed at establishing the facts to take account of the complexity of the issues arising from Savita's tragic death, including the questions raised by Mr. Halappanavar. I urge the Minister to bring the expert review group's report to the Cabinet as a matter of urgency and publish it immediately afterwards. The Government is committed to reporting to the European Court of Human Rights by the end of November and, as a newly elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a breach of that order would be extraordinary.

In regard to the situation in Gaza, I am sure we share enormous concern about the slowness of the emerging ceasefire. I ask the Government to reconsider Israel's membership of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement, EuroMed, which allows it to engage in free trade with the European Union. The agreement is based on respect for human rights and democratic principles. Should we continue to allow Israel's inclusion in the agreement, given what has happened?