Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, this shocking situation. I saw it yesterday on the news. It is absolutely unacceptable that a family should lose their daughter in such circumstances. It seems to me that this person should never have proceeded with the operation, should never have been doing the operation. I cannot comprehend how that happened. A benign tumour should have been a straightforward procedure. Then Jessica was taken to intensive care because it was not carried out in an effective manner. We learned that he did not seek the intervention of a vascular surgeon in a sufficiently timely manner - this is in a major hospital in the country - after Jessica suffered a major blood loss during the procedure. There was also a failure to carry out adequate pre-planning for the surgery. That is what the fitness to practise committee heard. The Medical Council has issued its findings. Dr. Lal has been the subject of a number of factual allegations and he has made full admissions. There are very serious issues here. The Medical Council found that each of the allegations had been proven beyond reasonable doubt and each amounted to a serious failing. I think the hearing has been adjourned to Wednesday for the hearing of submissions on a sanction. I do not want to prejudice what may follow here. This has to be examined in the most comprehensive way because questions arise in the light of all of those clinical failings which have resulted in the loss of life of a beautiful young woman. It should never have happened. What flows from that, then, in terms of the broader workings of the hospital? How was a clinician in a position to undertake a surgery of this kind in the manner that was taken? I fully hear what the Deputy is saying. Obviously, different people have to take actions, not at my urging or that of others. They have to be objectively arrived at and pursued. In other cases, disciplinary action was initiated in terms of officials, as the Deputy knows. Again, I am not going to make assertions right here and now. Words are of no use to the Sheedy family.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-31T01:00:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21