Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome Stephanie and John to the Seanad and offer them my condolences on the passing of their son. I also have a 14 year old son. What they have been through is unimaginable.

There are some questions which arise. In normal circumstances, business taken in Private Members' time has cross-party support and so our assumption was that this Bill would receive such support. I commend my colleague, Senator Mac Lochlainn, on never letting go of this matter. In all of my time as a Member of the Seanad, he has been dogmatic about having this Bill progressed through the Oireachtas. Should it choose not to support the Bill and allow it to progress to Committee Stage - where it could be teased out or, if necessary, reviewed with medical experts and others who have experience in this area - my question to the Government will be: what is it afraid of? We should not be afraid of that process. By the same token, where medical negligence occurs, those responsible must be held accountable. We should not do anything here that would prevent those people being held accountable, both for the sake of those who have lost their lives and others who may do so into the future. If there are valid reasons that need to be explored, this can be done on Committee Stage. I could not under any circumstances condone the cover up of something or the cutting off of something without it having been properly explored.

As Senator Norris indicated, this is a short, simple and straightforward Bill. If the Government or the Attorney General believe it will open up certain issues or that it will give rise to too great a cost, then let us have that debate on Committee Stage in order that we might tease out the relevant matters. Let us do the right thing. It is obvious that the right thing has not been done in many cases in the past but it must be done in the future. It is our responsibility to ensure that it is done.

I plead with the Government and Fianna Fáil - I note there is no member of Fianna Fáil present - to allow this Bill to progress in order that we might have further debate on the matter and analyse the Attorney General's opinion in a way that Jake, his parents and others in this awful position deserve.