The 16-year Mahon Tribunal comes to mind.

The Ward Tribunal was one of the first governmental scandals of the new State in the mid-1940s. There was once an investigation into allegations of insider trading of Great Southern Railways stocks, and hearings after RTÉ broadcast a seven-day programme in 1978 on illegal moneylending. 

However, in a century of process and after thousands of witnesses, millions of words, and multi-millions of fees, many citizens would be hard-pressed to point to outcomes which have significantly impacted the way we live.

At the very least, they provide a meaningful safety valve. At best, they can deliver important learnings.

The most recent, Peter Charleton’s Disclosures Tribunal, made observations which resonate strongly in current issues between Garda senior management, rank and file officers, and public confidence.

Whether a full tribunal is currently the appropriate channel through which dissatisfaction with the State’s maternity services is questionable, unless there is felt to be a systemic failure which binds these cases together. 

We don’t know that at the moment because every death is perceived officially as an individual, and different, circumstance. This is why it is helpful that former justice minister Frances Fitzgerald — who is promoting women’s rights at European Parliament level — has urged the Department of Health to look back over hospital mother and baby deaths and injuries.

Speaking in Strasbourg, she told the Irish Examiner: “A mechanism should be found to collate the data, to investigate, to make sure that, if there are reasons that have not yet been identified, they are identified.”

Such a rigorous official audit would be a start.

An 'Irish Examiner' survey in December, mostly based on coroner’s court reports, indicated there have been at least 42 hospital baby deaths between 2013 and 2022 which might be considered potentially avoidable.

One mother, Claire Cullen, who lost her son Aaron in 2016 said: “We politely asked for a look back over 41 avoidable baby deaths and we got nowhere.

We know how our babies died, but we don’t know why. 

"We don’t know why there is a consultant available in one hospital and not in another. 

"We also don’t know why some hospitals stick to national clinical guidelines and others don’t.

“This isn’t just about some nurses and doctors not doing their jobs properly, this is also about health service managers not doing their jobs and this is also about poorly funded maternity services.”

This is harrowing testimony, and there are many other examples.

Recognising that there might be a problem is the first step to resolving it. Parents are trapped in an information vacuum and it is understandable that they feel they have nothing else to reach for other than a tribunal.

However, that would raise time-sapping issues of compulsion, privilege, and procedure. Independent experts need to determine whether there is a pattern in what has been happening and join up the dots. Then we will know what steps to take next, because no one is prepared to let matters lie.

A blow to ethical capitalism

The failures of The Body Shop, the once iconic high street beauty retailer which specialised in fair trade and animal cruelty-free ranges, are a sobering example of what happens when a company comes in to play at the roulette table of private equity investors.

While the position of 50 staff in Ireland has not been confirmed, the seven Irish stores were sold by parent company Aurelius to a new purchaser along with other operations in Europe and Asia. Aurelius acquired the skincare brand just six weeks before Christmas in a €242m deal.

The Body Shop’s UK operations, which are still under the ownership of Aurelius, are in administration, placing 2,000 jobs in 200 stores at risk.

Since the company was sold by Anita Roddick and her husband in 2006, it has had a succession of giant conglomerate owners including L’Oréal and Natura. Its demise is a sad blow to all those who like to believe in ethical capitalism.