Leo did not help Ruth, now it’s too late... will Martin fail families of the other women?
THE man in the navy suit apologised for what had happened, on behalf of his people and the people who went before him, who hadn’t previously bothered to say sorry and were now planning their six-week holidays.
‘Those of us who are here, and have the responsibility of elected office, have a solemn duty to learn the lessons from these errors, to reform the system and to make sure they never happen again,’ he told the room, which was mostly full of other men in suits, save for a handful of women – and one man who rightly insisted these words were too little, too late.
And in the minute’s silence that followed, the nation hoped that these politicians could feel the anger from those outside the Dáil, could feel the appropriate levels of shame any right-thinking human being would feel heaped upon their shoulders had they behaved so appallingly towards someone who was dying, while using the excuse that they were only following the correct procedure and, sure, weren’t they only doing their jobs?
Micheál Martin’s apology came just days after Paul Morrissey announced the death of his brave wife Ruth, a woman full of energy and sparkle, a woman who had just celebrated her 39th birthday a few weeks ago, a woman whose nine-year-old daughter begged her not to die.
Via his solicitor, Paul Morrissey said: ‘Despite the magnitude of the harm caused to her by avoidable errors, despite the broken promise of a Taoiseach who said no other woman would have to go to trial, despite using Ruth as a test case through the final years and months of her life, neither the HSE nor the State has ever apologised to her, and now it is too late.’
Leo Varadkar offered his condolences yesterday – and quite rightly so – to the family and friends of Dr Waqar Ali Shah, who died of Covid-19 while working in the Mater Hospital.
He previously apologised to all the women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal.
Afterthought
But scrolling through his extensive Twitter timeline, there’s no mention of Ruth Morrissey, a mother who was effectively sentenced to death by inadequate testing and allowed to be dragged through the courts while he was the man in charge, after he promised this would not happen to another following Vicky Phelan’s ordeal.
Yesterday, as through her tears nine-year-old Libby was saying her final goodbyes to her mother, Paul Reid, the head of the HSE, said he had written to Paul Morrissey to apologise on its behalf.
Clearly, neither the Government nor the HSE understand what the words ‘too late’ actually mean.
Opening a letter will be cold comfort to Paul Morrissey while trying to support his grieving daughter who lost her mother all too soon.
And granted, Paul Reid was not in charge of the HSE when news of the scandal broke, but it has been a full year since he took the reins.
A year where Ruth Morrissey was around to hear the words, ‘We are sorry this has happened’ for herself.
It might not have saved her life, but certainly it would have made her feel better, and less of a second-class citizen, that she was believed, that she was vindicated, that it was unquestionably wrong for this to have happened to her.
Instead, she died without hearing this for herself. Instead, she died more than likely feeling that the State let her down by taking an appeal to the Supreme Court to effectively quibble over the terms and conditions of her forthcoming death. Instead, she died thinking, quite correctly it seemed, that neither the Government nor the HSE cared enough about her life and the lives of those she had to leave behind to say sorry.
The fact that Paul Morrissey had to point this out is nothing short of outrageous. For apologies to come at this stage only proves, yet again, that women in this country are an afterthought, still second-class citizens who are left to suffer at the hands of the politique, which cares more about money than it does lives.
It’s been left to Labour leader Alan Kelly to insist that legislation to let the dependants of women affected by the CervicalCheck
scandal claim for losses, instead of going to court. He is also seeking to make changes to the Civil Liability Act, which will make it easier for terminally ill women and their families to access support. He says Ruth Morrissey wanted this to happen and hopes all the other parties will support the move.
And still there are hundreds of women affected by this screening scandal whom the HSE and the State have failed, but the CervicalCheck tribunal is not up and running as yet.
It was due to begin in March, but was, the Government says, postponed due to Covid-19.
However, the legislation to begin this tribunal was passed in
July last year by the Oireachtas.
That’s a full year of waiting for women who desperately want their voices to be heard, and who need to know that, should they pass away, their families will be provided for.
Surely those in charge must realise at this stage that time is of the essence for these women? Time has been taken away from them by these blunders in US laboratories used to save a few euro for the HSE budgets. And empty words mean nothing to women who have watched promises being broken again and again, who have seen Ruth Morrissey dragged through the courts despite assurances that this would not happen following Vicky Phelan’s own hard-fought victory.
Contempt
There’s no doubt that these women have little faith or trust in a State that has already treated them and others like them with contempt.
They are still living with uncertainty, as a lack of action has now led to the tribunal having no chair, following the decision – by the Government – to appoint the initial chairwoman, Judge Mary Irvine, to the position of President of the High Court.
So it’s up to Micheál Martin to get the Government moving quickly. It’s high time this tribunal was sorted out so that, at the very least, these women will have the chance to tell their stories and live what’s left of their lives secure in the knowledge that what happened to them will be addressed properly, and their loved ones will be looked after without suffering the ignominy of arguing over the life of their mother, daughter, wife or sister in a courtroom.
Every single day that passes without this happening is an affront to our society and a black stain on the Government, regardless of who happens to be in power. Because soon it will be too late for others, just like it was for Ruth Morrissey.
Precious time is something these women just don’t have enough of.