Minister to seek Cabinet approval for report on symphisiotomies

A report on Ireland's record of symphisiotomies is expected to recommend payouts of more than €30m for victims.

Thousands of women underwent the procedure between the 1940s and 1984, and the report is the result of a two-year investigation.

It is reported the Health Minister Simon Harris will seek approval for its publication at today's Cabinet meeting.

The

Read More:

The now-banned practice effectively unhinged the pelvis.

It involved sawing open a woman's pelvic bone in certain complicated childbirth situations - causing intense pain and life-long complications.

Survivors Of Symphysiotomy Ireland says an estimated 1,500 women and girls, some as young as 14, had their pelvises severed by senior doctors.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has found these operations were torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The report, by former High Court judge Maureen Harding Clark, was commissioned by former Health Minister Leo Varadkar in late 2014 in a bid to highlight the full extent of cases involved.