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

I appreciate that, but on the general practice, as I watch this whole thing develop, I have to say that we are going further in a direction in which accountability will be lost in clinical decision making and opinion. With no medical training and just applying basic common sense, I would say that someone should not be signing off on my work unless he or she is aware of its quality. It cannot just be assumed that I am great, particularly in a screening programme in which efficacy levels are not 100%. It is a very reasonable question to ask. The recommendation I have given is perfectly logical from a citizen's perspective, if not from an established clinician's perspective. We are sadly beginning to see that at least some are party to a culture of, in the words of Vicky Phelan, cover-up.