John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader bring to the attention of the Minister for Health that, with respect to the calls for a public inquiry into the sad and tragic loss of Savita Halappanavar, there is a mechanism in place for a public inquiry. It will happen. It is an inquest and it is statutory, sworn and has the power to compel witnesses. That inquest should take place as quickly as possible, before any other decisions are made about any other type of inquiry, to give us the urgent airing of the sworn under oath testimony of all the participants who were involved in this sad case. Of the three types of inquiry which have been mooted by the HSE and HIQA, the inquest is the only one which will be under oath, has statutory powers and can compel witnesses. Such inquests are routinely held in any of the sad, thankfully rare, cases of maternal death which occur in this country. It is essential that the one in this case should take place quickly. It may well pre-empt some of the necessities. I am not guaranteeing that it will. It may well be that at the conclusion of the inquest the facts which emerge, or do not emerge, may mandate some type of further judicial or other sworn inquiry. In the first instance, however, it should be on the record that we have a mechanism for a proper inquiry, which is the inquest under the Coroners Act.