David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My question was about information that had been given to the Minister for Health. I will be more specific for Mr. Breslin before he comes back in.

Last week we had a very lengthy discussion on what information the Department had. While I put my points robustly, fairly and respectfully, I am very angry with the Chief Medical Officer about the fact that we sat here for one and a half hours last week when we had a very lengthy discussion with Mr. Breslin on what information the Department knew about the memos. There were three memos. It is not just the memos that were known to the Chief Medical Officer and the Department; there were also seven meetings at which the Department had been represented and not once did the Chief Medical Officer inform this committee that he was aware of the memos or that he had sat in at those meetings. This was in dereliction of his duty. I will return to the issue of the Chief Medical Officer shortly, but Mr. Breslin was obviously not made aware either. Not only was the Minister not made aware, Mr. Breslin was also not made aware. The memo, referred to in the opening statement, reads:

Pause all letters.

Await the advice of solicitors.

[I imagine that was with regard to the dispute with the laboratory]

Decide on the order and volume of dispatch to mitigate any potential risks.

[The risks to the HSE]

Continue to prepare reactive communications response for a media headline that ‘screening did not diagnose my cancer’.

That was the context and there were subsequent memos and meetings. The Chief Medical Officer and others in the Department knew about this or were central to it and did not tell Mr. Breslin or the Minister. I want to know, from Mr. Breslin's perspective, why that was the case.