Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a well-known game. It is called politics. Let us deal with the matter in a different fashion. I have a comment to make and it is not personal in any way. In no way have I any acrimony towards any of the personalities involved at all.

However, my long-time view is that the HSE is an inappropriate structure to deliver health services to the country at large. Comparisons have been made with the greater Manchester area, the population of which is equal, but they do not apply as geographically it is vastly different. In recent years we have had complaints from the regions about a lack of accountability, liaison, consultation and so on. It will never work and this is a classic example of why not. In the communication system, either up or down the line, the chain of command did not operate. The communication that should have taken place never did. This will be repeated time and again. The Minister has promised to change the system. I hope he does because if he does not, whoever sits on the other side of the room will be here again in two or three' years, or perhaps six months, but it is inevitable that these things will happen again.

We did not dwell on the dispute between Quest Diagnostics and CervicalCheck. When the issue arose initially, legal advice was sought on full public disclosure. Am I correct in assuming that legal advice was sought in that regard or was the public disclosure policy in abeyance?