Operation survivors want Reilly resignation

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.

Despite Taoiseach Enda Kenny branding the procedure “barbaric”, the Cabinet would not accept any State liability for its use from the mid-1940s to the mid-1980’. The redress scheme, to be administered by the State Claims Agency, is ex gratia, meaning no admission of liability is given.

Some 350 survivors still alive would receive between €50,000-€150,000 under the move. Around 100 women still alive, whose injuries from a symphysiotomy cleared within 18 months, would be entitled to €50,000. Some 240 women who suffered more complex injuries would receive €100,000, and 10 women who had the procedure after a caesarean section — a move the Supreme Court ruled was “indefensible” — would be eligible for €150,000.