David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Thank you for the clarification. I very much welcome section 159, in particular that an apology is not to constitute an admission of guilt. That is a very important point. In situations of clinical liability, where, for example, a child is brain-damaged as a result of some procedure that went wrong in the hospital, these things very often take years and the hospital is inhibited in giving an apology, which would be emotionally satisfying to the parents of the child, because an apology constitutes or can be held to constitute an admission of liability. It is in everybody's interest that a hospital can issue a heartfelt apology that leads to some comfort being given to, for example, the parents of a brain-damaged child, without liability coming into question. I very much welcome this section, which is very good, humane and decent.