Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I find the language used amazing. The witness referred to a memorandum seeking to disclose, yet this is a memorandum that used language referring to preparing reactive communications for media headlines that "screening did not diagnose my cancer". Yesterday that headline manifested itself in the flesh and blood of Vicky Phelan when she appeared before the committee. She was not screaming. She calmly put her position that screening did not diagnose her cancer.

In many of their opening contributions, members of the committee prefaced their remarks by stating how angry they were coming to the meeting this morning. I am willing to bet that their anger is not just the result of this hearing but of cumulative hearings with the HSE and the Department of Health in which we have dealt with issues such as the Grace case, and the former director general appeared before the committee to deal with that, and how a communication problem exists. It is an ongoing thing. It is not just this case. In my two years in the Oireachtas I have never encountered another section of Government that finds communicating so difficult. Mr. Breslin stated that the women who have gone public have drawn attention to their experience in the hope of change. He probably also heard Vicky Phelan say in her concluding remarks last night that in the past few weeks, they have not seen evidence that there is a culture that indicates a willingness to change.

In fact, she said she would not have been here, that she would have been at home with her two kids, if she thought there was a willingness to change. Again, I go back to the fact that the witnesses are saying these people's evidence is being very brave, but they came before the committee last night and said they do not believe the HSE and they do not see that willingness. There is therefore obviously some disconnect. I keep going back to the people impacted because they, not any of us, are the people living with this. There are people within a management structure who have the self-awareness that people should be notified or, more worryingly, the self-awareness that people should not be notified. How is the HSE going to assuage people's fears that there is no willingness to change? The people here last night did not see such a willingness.