Gilmore: Public inquiry not ruled out after HSE report

A public inquiry into the death of Savita Halappanavar is not being ruled out, the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said.

But an initial internal HSE report into the death of the 31-year-old in University Hospital Galway must first be concluded to “establish the facts and establish the truth”, the Labour leader said. “Once we see the outcome of that we can then reflect on what needs to be done further after that.”

Asked if a public inquiry would then take place as per the wishes of her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, Mr Gilmore said: “I wouldn’t rule anything out. But we have experience in this country of formal public inquiries and the danger with formal public inquiries is that they go on for a very long time and very often spend a long time being mired in legal argument.”