‘International’ support for Savita court battle

“International human rights groups” have contacted the husband of the late Savita Halappanavar and have pledged to help him in his European court battle.

Praveen Halappanavar’s solicitor, Gerard O’Donnell, revealed the situation to the Irish Examiner after the deadline the widower gave for an independent State inquiry to be set up passed yesterday without progress.

Mr O’Donnell said that three days after he wrote to Health Minister James Reilly on the matter, the only response had been a note on Wednesday evening confirming the correspondence had been received.

Mr O’Donnell said he and his client are now committing to taking a European Court of Human Rights case against the State — with the move receiving “international” support.

“Given the huge amount of international attention this has received we do have offers of help from people in human rights groups [in relation to the case].

“There are a wealth of people, from Britain and elsewhere, who said they want to offer their services to Praveen. Some of these organisations are known internationally, although I don’t wish to name them yet,” the solicitor said.

Mr O’Donnell said he and Mr Halappanavar will spend the weekend and early next week finalising their legal support team for the now imminent European Court of Human Rights case.

The court has the power to force Ireland to address certain legal deficiencies — if proven — in Ms Halappanavar’s death, and can also order a public inquiry to be set up.

However, a key hurdle will be whether Mr Halappanavar’s case meets the court’s requirement that all attempts to resolve the issues are exhausted within the country in question before a hearing can take place.

When asked if the fact two separate HSE and Health Information Quality Authority (Hiqa) inquiries have been established to examine Ms Halappanavar’s death meant the case does not meet this requirement, Mr O’Donnell said that remained to be seen.

“The HSE set up an inquiry to inquire into itself, we are not happy with the Hiqa inquiry as it won’t be held in public or allow cross-examination,” he said.

The solicitor said while it is unclear when the case could be heard, there is “a mechanism for fast-tracking cases” in the court.

Asked about the passing of yesterday’s inquiry call deadline, a Department of Health spokesman said Dr Reilly “answered questions on this matter on Monday”.

The spokesman added the minister “has not made remarks on this matter in the intervening period”.

On Monday, the under- fire Fine Gael minister said: “Look, I absolutely respect Praveen Halappanavar’s view, and his right to do, through his legal adviser, as he sees fit. I have to await the outcome of the internal inquiry. We also have the mention of a Hiqa inquiry.

“I will take whatever action those inquiries demand I take, as they become public. I have a duty of care to the women of Ireland, particularly in the west of Ireland, to ensure that the practice at Galway is safe. To reassure them that it’s safe to have their baby.”