Proposals in the symphysiotomy redress scheme requiring victims accepting a payment to “indemnify and hold harmless” those responsible have been sharply criticised.

Victims of a surgery inflicted on 1,500 women giving birth from the 1940s to 1980s have voted to reject a State compensation plan and instead take legal action as the Government deal does not admit "wrongdoing".

Patient Focus, which provides support to up to 200 women who underwent symphysiotomies, has welcomed assurances from Health Minister Leo Varadkar that the Government will start paying redress by the end of the year.

Symphysiotomy survivors have demanded the resignation of Health Minister James Reilly after the Government refused to apologise over their suffering and insisted victims give up legal challenges in order to receive redress from a €34m fund.

Women who underwent symphysiotomies are to keep up their fight for compensation in the courts after dismissing as “shameful” Government attempt to offer a no-fault redress scheme.

Victims of controversial birthing methods used by Irish hospitals in the 50s and 60s are meeting in Dublin today, saying they are determined to get the compensation they deserve.

A group representing survivors of symphysiotomy say they will not accept Magdalene-style compensation.

The Government’s offer to establish a mediation process overseen by a judge to determine what women who underwent symphysiotomies want has received a mixed response from those representing the victims.

The Survivors of Symphysiotomy group is calling on the Government to put forward a compensation fund of between €250,000 and €450,000 for each woman.

The sheer agony of the pain suffered by 1,500 Irish women who were subjected to a symphysiotomy in hospitals between 1944 and 1992 never dulls with each retelling of a personal story, they say.

Women who survived a barbaric procedure in Irish maternity hospitals are hoping their stories will go global following the release of a documentary.

The Walsh report on symphysiotomy ignores the experiences of women subject to the practice and the disastrous effects they still live with, writes Marie O’Connor

The former Minister for Health, Mary Harney, stated in the Dáil on Feb 23, 2010, that she has “ruled out an inquiry into symphysiotomy surgical operations”.

An independent inquiry into the practice of symphysiotomy has been commissioned by the Department of Health.

THE victims of symphysiotomy surgery must be compensated as they have been left with serious disabilities, life-long incontinence and other long-term medical problems, a report will argue.

WOMEN who underwent symphysiotomies in this country have called upon obstetricians to concede the procedures should not have taken place over the past century.

SURVIVORS of a procedure where the pelvis of women in labour was split in two have demanded the resignation of Health Minister Mary Harney over her failure to establish an inquiry.

The Health Minister said today that the Government will not be carrying out an inquiry into the practice of symphysiotomy.

MOTHERS who underwent symphysiotomies have accused the Department of Health of reneging on a promise to have the controversial procedure investigated.

A SURVIVORS’ group has welcomed the appointment of an international expert who will review a surgical procedure that condemned hundreds of women to a lifetime of pain and suffering.

WOMEN who underwent an operation in which their pelvis was broken after childbirth are considering taking the Government to court because it has failed to fulfil promises it made to them over five months ago.

The Survivors of Symphysiotomy organisation has accepted an invitation to talks with Health Minister Micheál Martin.

CLARE KAVANAGH was one of a number of women who travelled to the Dáil yesterday to rally political support for a public inquiry into a controversial medical procedure that destroyed her quality of life.

A CONSULTANT at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin has called for an end to “inaccurate and irresponsible” information about certain gynaecological operations which were carried out in this country.