Aoife Johnston’s parents seek meeting with Taoiseach over her death

The solicitor for Aoife Johnston’s parents has written to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health seeking a meeting, the health committee has been told.

Stephen Donnelly said that he, along with Simon Harris and HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster, will meet her parents Carol and James.

Aoife, 16, died at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in 2022 after waiting for 12 hours to be assessed for suspected sepsis.

She was not administered the appropriate sepsis bundle of medication until 13 hours later. National protocols on sepsis suggest that treatment should take place within one hour.

In his lengthy report, former chief justice Frank Clarke described the circumstances around her death as “almost certainly avoidable”.

The family’s solicitor previously said they wanted a statutory inquiry into Aoife’s death.

Mr Donnelly told the Joint Committee on Health that he “cannot begin to imagine what they have gone through and what they are continuing to go through”.

“My promise, and Bernard Gloster’s promise, is we’re going to put Carol and James and Aoife’s family at the centre of anything that we do. That is our starting point and that would be our end point,” the health minister added.

“In terms of an apology, Bernard has apologised, I have apologised, and I know UHL has apologised, and quite rightly.

“If Carol and James want a more public apology, I can’t see any issue with that, if that would help, be it for me or the Taoiseach or whoever it may be.”

He added: “Through their solicitor, the Johnstons reached out to the Taoiseach and I yesterday.

“I publicly stated on several occasions that I was very happy to meet them. Their solicitor wrote to the Taoiseach and I yesterday to suggest that we have that meeting.

“In the first instance what I want to do, and I know the Taoiseach wants to do, and Bernard Gloster wants to do, is sit down and just listen directly to what Carol and James want.”

He said the report produced by Justice Clarke revealed conflicting evidence and “serious discrepancies” of what unfolded in the hours leading up to Aoife’s death.

“If that was my child, I want to know who was telling the truth. I think they are absolutely correct to say, hang on a second, I want a factual account of what happened,” Mr Donnelly said.

“Justice Clarke, to the greatest extent he could, took the evidence, and I think he laid out the conflicts in a helpful way. I think he was essentially showing us the conflict. He wasn’t trying to simply pass it off.

“I want to talk to Aoife’s mom and dad about that, and the best way to get that – they have a right to the truth and significantly conflicting evidence doesn’t do that for them.

“They also want accountability, and they are right to want accountability. On the back of the Justice Clarke report, the chief executive has launched the biggest process in pursuit of accountability in the 20-year history of the HSE.

“There are six disciplinary processes initiated. Several of them are at the highest level, and several individuals, as you’ll be aware, are on administrative leave.

“That brings us to the question of where do we go from here? Statutory inquiries do not always do what we want them to do and what grieving parents and others want them to do.

“If we were to launch a statutory inquiry, one of the questions we would have to be able to answer is, if you launch a statutory inquiry, do the legal teams representing those currently under investigation by their employer say, well, these investigations now have to stop. They have to be paused.

“They could be paused for two years, four years, eight years, 10 years.”

He added that while statutory inquiries do not always provide the answers people want, he will discuss it with Aoife’s family.

Speaking after the committee meeting, Mr Harris said he is happy to meet with the Johnston family.

The Fine Gael leader said he has not ruled out a statutory inquiry and will discuss with it with the teenager’s family.

“Yes, I’ll meet with them. 100%. I’ve met with them before,” Mr Harris said.

“They’re a beautiful family grieving the loss of a beautiful daughter in the most horrific, unacceptable and somewhat inexplicable circumstances.

“In relation to a statutory inquiry and in fairness to Minister Donnelly, and I don’t have his exact remarks in front of me, I think he was making the point that any structure we put in place, he wants to make sure that it works for the family in terms of getting answers.

“That’s certainly a view I’d share. But I do not rule out, do not rule out, in any manner or means a statutory inquiry. The family have said very clearly, through their representative, that they have questions that need to be answered.

“We have to work with them.

“I think the first thing to do is for myself, Minister Donnelly, to meet with the family. I’m very happy for that to take place as quickly as possible and let’s take it from there.”

Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall told the committee that the “apparent lack of accountability” across senior levels within the public and civil service “drives the public mad”.

She said it was “particularly acute” in the health service.

The Dublin North West TD said it was “regrettable” that the Government did not introduce legislation to provide for accountability at administrative and clinical level as part of Slaintecare.

“It’s very regrettable that the government failed to follow through on that recommendation.

“That leaves us in all kinds of complicated circumstances in different government departments and state agencies in terms of establishing accountability and people being seen to face the consequences when things go wrong,” she said.