The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said tonight he is "shocked and appalled" at the findings of the Irish Medical Council's investigation into complaints against the former consultant obstetrician Dr Michael Neary.
Dr Neary was struck off the medical register after a lengthy investigation into caesarian hysterectomies carried out on 10 women while he worked at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.
The Medical Council's Fitness to Practise Committee heard evidence that Dr Neary's carried out caesarian hysterectomies at a rate at least 10 times higher than that of the Coombe Women's Hospital.
Between the years 1993 and 1998, the Coombe carried out one such operation in every 600 caesarian sections. Dr Neary's personal rate was one in 20 and the rate of the Drogheda obstetrics unit as a whole was one in 42.
The Medical Council published its report on the Neary investigation this evening. The report found that the doctor committed "profound errors of judgment" and that he had a lack of objectivity and insight into the harm he had done to the women he operated on.
Mr Martin said: "The report is a dreadful indictment of the treatment of the women concerned."
"They have been scarred, both physically and emotionally, and their family lives have been devastated."
The minister today met with the chief executive and deputy chief executive officers of the North Eastern Health Board, which took over ownership of the Drogheda hospital from the Medical Missionaries of Mary five years ago.
He said the had informed him that the board has engaged clinical risk management consultants from Britain to undertake a quality assurance review of current practice at the hospital's maternity unit.
Mr Martin said the health board managers also briefed him on the measures now in place to improve clinical governance and enhance risk management procedures andprotocols.
The minister said this evening the draft heads of a bill for the new Medical Practitioners' Act are "very near to completion". It will provide for the establishment of a Competence Assurance scheme to promote the highest standards of medical practice into the future.
Mr Martin said he had arranged to meet with Patient Focus, the patient support group, later this month. Following that meeting, he intends to bring proposals to Government in relation to addressing "wider issues arising from the report of the Medical Council".
A statement issued by the North Eastern Health Board said the board had not yet seen a copy of the Medical Council report but it would like to reassure the public about patient care and safety at the maternity unit of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.
Dr Michael Neary was placed on administrative leave on December 11th 1998 and has not been in practice in the hospital since that time.
The health board said a significant number of care and quality initiatives had been introduced at the maternity unit since December 1998. Among other changes introduced, a second medical opinion must now be sought in cases where a caesarean hysterectomy is indicated to ensure that the procedure is the most appropriate for the woman involved.
One woman whose womb was removed by Dr Neary has already been awarded compensation after she took a civil action before the High Court. Nearly 60 others are taking legal action against the former consultant, claiming he carried out hysterectomies on them unnecessarily.