Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Kelly has covered much of this but, on the same thread, I wish to discuss the letter from Professor Burke of July 2017 to Professor Colette Cowan, which was copied to Dr. Henry. I will read two parts of that for the record, as they are important:

... the guidelines outlined do appear to put an undue onus on the treating clinician rather than the screening programme to communicate directly with the patient in cases where the audit process has led to a change in the diagnosis. This then compels the treating Gynaecologists to engage in open disclosure with the patient Re the initial Cytology findings.

This has the potential to implicate the local treating consultant and his or her institution in what constitutes a missed diagnosis. The consequences of this could obviously have potential negative consequences for both the consultant and the institution.

Obviously, this is referring to legal recourse for patients. That is what it is all about. This letter was sent nearly a year ago. Without being prejudicial towards anyone, everyone was covering his or her ass from a legal perspective and the patient was not central to the considerations. Everyone felt that he or she was doing his or her role, but critical links in the chain were not. We know who they are. It is not possible to compel a private citizen to appear before us, but it would be useful if the former clinical director were contacted to see whether she would like to join us.