Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. I will begin by directing my comments to Mr. O'Brien. As he may be aware, Fianna Fáil's position is that we would like to see him step back with immediate effect without prejudice. I am very conscious that as spokesperson I have asked for this publicly in the Dáil and in the media but not in a position where Mr. O'Brien has had the chance to respond to it. I would like to put it to him to give him the chance to respond in open session. I take no joy in the call and I am very conscious he has given many years of public service to healthcare.

The reason the party believes that at this point it would be better for the healthcare system and the women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal if he were to step back is that while we must all wait for the investigation to establish all of the facts, it is abundantly clear that he was in charge of the organisation. The Minister in his opening remarks referred to non-disclosure as significantly out of step with public expectation and best practice. This is a very polite way of putting it. It has been a catastrophic failure of governance. Sadly, it has led to a collapse in public confidence in critical screening services. Women across the country and, indeed, men when they meet a consultant will ask whether that consultant is telling them everything and whether the HSE has told their consultant everything. They may question the literature.

We found out at a committee meeting last week that the CervicalCheck literature states the test is not 100% accurate. We found out later in the same session that it is, in fact, 70% accurate, which is a serious error in the accuracy of the information to the women. Yesterday, a High Court judge described as scandal the fact that one in 25 so-called consultants in this country are not in fact consultants as they are not registered. The public may even now be questioning whether the consultant sitting in front of them is, in fact, a consultant. Public confidence is rocked.

Specifically with regard to Ms Phelan's case, there was a failure to anticipate the public concern which has led to such widespread anger and worry, and there was a failure to react quickly enough to it. As of last Saturday, approximately 800 women had had a call back. We know this number has increased considerably in recent days, but the number of women who have had a callback is still less than half. Obviously this case has been known about for some time. These are the reasons. As I said, I take no pleasure in it, but I want to put it to Mr. O'Brien directly in this forum so he has the opportunity to respond to it.