THE payments awarded to surgical symphysiotomy survivors by the Irish Government has been called "an official whitewash" by lead campaigner Marie O'Connor.
Minister for Health Simon Harris released Judge Maureen Harding Clark's report on the payment scheme as well as the figures awarded to survivors earlier this week.
The Minister said he hope the conclusion of this process "will help bring closure for the women involved and their families."
Minster for Health Simon Harris said he hoped the payments "will help bring closure for the women involved and their families." (Picture: RollingNews.ie)The Surgical Symphysiotomy Ex-Gratia Payment Scheme, established in November 2014, awarded €34million to 399 women, the majority of whom are over 75 years of age and underwent a symphysiotomy or pubiotomy between 1940 and 1990.
A total of 590 applications were made to the payment scheme.
Chairperson of Survivors of Symphysiotomy Ms O'Connor heavily criticised the payments, and also said the "paper trail" discriminated against older applicants.
"The Harding Clark Report on the Government payment scheme is the third official whitewash report on symphysiotomy.
"The scheme was designed to mask the mutilating nature of the operation. It was premised on the expeditious view that women's injuries generally cleared up soon after having their pelvises broken.
"The Harding Clark Report portrays an unrecognisable scheme, one that was rational, non-adversarial and just.
"Many of our members experienced the scheme as irrational, adversarial and unjust.
Ms O'Connor also said that the exclusion of nearly 200 women was down to radiological evidence.
"Radiological evidence was used to exclude, although such evidence was, by definition, imperfect, if not downright unreliable, as proof of surgery and/or injury."
Ms O'Connor also said the reason the majority of applicants got a baseline payment of €50,000 was because the scheme relied on a paper trail, which could not be followed up for older applicants because their physicians were deceased.
"The scheme's insistence on a paper trail discriminated against older women whose doctors were deceased and who were unable to produce the records the scheme required for disability payments.
"Younger women who could produce these pieces of paper got €100,000, while older women, who had suffered longer from the same injuries, got €50,000."
Out of 399 women awarded in the payment scheme:
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216 who had a symphysiotomy were awarded €50,000
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168 women who were found to have developed a significant disability as a result of the symphysiotomy combined with a caesarean section were awarded €100,000
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15 women who developed a significant disability as a result of a symphysiotomy or pubiotomy were awarded €150,000
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One applicant opted to reject her offers and continue with litigation against the State
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Four applicants died before any offer was made
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One applicant died before she could accept the offer made to her
Surgical symphysiotomy is a procedure that involves cutting through the cartilage of the pubic joint, and was performed on pregnant women in Ireland between 1940 to 1990s.
A pubiotomy, of which a single award was given, involves sawing through the pubic bone using a surgical saw.
According to Survivors of Symphysiotomy, around 1,500 women had their pelvises broken in childbirth in Ireland from 1944 onwards, many of which are disabled, incontinent and in pain.
The group also say the operations were not performed in an emergency or out of medical necessity, "but as a matter of policy, out of personal choice."
"Some obstetricians and gynaecologists disliked Caesarean section because it capped family size. In place came symphysiotomy, a more dangerous procedure that enabled women to have an unlimited number of children."
