This afternoon Soldiarity TD Ruth Coppinger commented on the Progress Report and the First Stage report which were produced by Dr. Scally as part of the scoping inquiry. 

She said that the women at the centre of the case deserve better from state agencies like the HSE and the Department of Health. 

She also questioned how the government had decided upon a figure of €2,000 as an ex-gratia payment to the women.

Ruth Coppinger TD said "It is very disappointing that the full Scally Report now won't meet its deadline at they end of the month. 

"It is clear from the Progress Report that a key reason for the delay has been the slowness of state bodies like the HSE, the State Claims Agency and the Department of Health in handing over documents. 

"The Taoiseach today tried to explain it away by saying that it can take time to find files which in some cases can be true. However, for it to take a month to locate them isn't good enough. 

"Neither is there any excuse for some of these bodies to send unreadable, scanned versions of documents to the inquiry when they could have sent them electronic versions which could be examined easier. It looks like they are trying to delay and frustrate the work of the inquiry. The women who have been affected by this scandal deserve better. 

""I'd also question how the government happened upon the figure of €2,000 for the families affected. For the affected women and their families to fully engage with the inquiry all of their costs should be met. The cost of travel, eating out, arranging childcare or for children to be picked up from school can be extremely expensive. It's not just a question of money but a question of respect towards them"