Halappanavar will not meet HSE inquiry chairman

Praveen Halappanavar has said he will not meet the chairman of the Health Service Executive inquiry into his wife Savita's death.

In his first television interview in Ireland to be broadcast on RTÉ's Prime Time tonight, he said the family wants a public inquiry funded by the Government.

Savita Halappanavar died at University Hospital Galway last month after a miscarriage.

Mr Halappanavar said he has no confidence in the HSE to lead the investigation, saying he fears there could be some bias if it is carried out by people paid by the executive.

He said he went public with his story because "there was nothing happening for two weeks".

Mr Halappanavar said the entire family is waiting to find out what happened.

"I had to answer the family back home... They couldn't believe it. It was such a simple case."

He said "they should have thought about the bigger life when they couldn't save the baby".

The Irish Patients' Association has written to Health Minister James Reilly asking him to stand down the current HSE inquiry into the case.

It wants the independent health watchdog, the Health Information and Quality Authority, to conduct the investigation.

The HSE says that efforts to secure three replacement consultants for the seven-member inquiry team are "well advanced".

Govt focused on 'objective' inquiry

Earlier in the Dáil, Taoiseach Enda Kenny appealed to Mr Halappanavar to meet the chairman.

Mr Kenny said what was being reported in the papers was very different to what he had taken from Mr Halappanavar's statements.

He said Mr Halappanavar had said that he did not want anyone from the Galway hospital taking part in the inquiry, and that was no longer the case.

Mr Kenny said it was imperative to get the truth of the circumstances leading up to Savita's death.

He was responding to questions from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who said he felt it was inappropriate for the Taoiseach to make direct appeals to a grieving husband.

Earlier, Mr Martin said he found it unacceptable and inexplicable that no member of the Government had made contact with the Halappanavar family.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has said the members of the inquiry must be "absolutely disconnected" to anybody that was involved in the tragedy.

Mr Howlin said the Government wants an objective, fair and speedy inquiry into what happened.

He said there was a responsibility on Minister for Health James Reilly as a matter of urgency to ensure there are no practices or procedures in any hospital that would impact on the health of women.

Mr Howlin said the women of Ireland and their families need to have that reassurance quickly.

Doctor warns against public inquiry

The former Master of the National Maternity Hospital, Peter Boylan, has said a public inquiry into the death of Savita Halappanavar would not be a constructive way to address the issue.

The consultant obstetrician said: "If an inquiry is conducted it should be done in private initially, the findings should be made public.

"If it's a public inquiry, it will descend into a bit of circus because there will be misinterpretations of evidence given, which will be bandied about in the media, (and) all sorts of groups will latch on to different bits of evidence before other bits of evidence are heard."

Mr Boylan said it would be better if Mr Halappanavar agreed to allow the inquiry to use his wife's records, and if he does not participate it will be very unfortunate.

Dr Boylan said: "If he doesn't agree, I think the inquiry should still go ahead. If he's unhappy with the findings of the inquiry, well then he could take it further."

Mr Boylan added: "I think the important thing for everybody's sake, and for the reputation of the country, is to get at the facts fast and to have them out in the public arena, so that conclusions can be drawn and all sorts of speculation can be finished with."

Call to change inquiry chairman

Independent Senator Rónán Mullen and the Pro-Life Campaign have called for the inquiry chairman to be changed over concerns about his views on abortion, published in 2009.

Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran had said he would like to challenge and encourage societies and countries with restrictive abortion laws to look at the evidence available in favour of liberal abortion laws, and debate the possibility of making the choice of termination of pregnancy a legal right for women.

United Left Alliance TD Clare Daly has reintroduced legislation in the Dáil to provide for the termination of pregnancy where a real and substantial risk to the life of the pregnant woman exists.

The legislation - in the name of Ms Daly, Mick Wallace and Joan Collins - was introduced this morning, but as a Private Members' Bill has to be debated in Private Members' time.

Meanwhile, the Dáil is due to vote on a Sinn Féin Private Members' motion calling for immediate legislation to implement the Supreme Court judgment in the X Case.

The motion also calls for the publication of a report by the expert group on abortion.

A Government counter-motion supports the Minister for Health's recommendation that the expert group report should be published immediately after it is brought to Cabinet next Tuesday.

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