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

I thank the witnesses for coming before us this morning. Their information is quite enlightening. I have a number of questions about the two-year training programme, which is regarded as the ideal situation. Does this apply in the United States of America and in other laboratories outside of Ireland, and does the sector here have any control over that?

I must mention that I am biased with regard to the need to retain laboratory facilities at home in Ireland. I have always been strongly of this view. I do not see any basis at all for outsourcing, except in very short-term situations and emergencies. We have a right to have the best information available to us in the shortest possible time, and this is the only way to do it.

Did the witnesses have any forewarning, before recent events, that something might be wrong? Can they shed any light on that now?

How long would it take to increase laboratory capacity in this country to meet demand at the present time?

How does the turnaround time in this jurisdiction compared to that in the United States?

Two people deal with every sample. Are there any procedures which might be dealt with by more than two people, particularly where people get tired? Is there a checking system where a screen may be looked at for a second time immediately in the laboratory, rather than having the person present for a repeat screening?

I have spoken, and I am sure we have all spoken, with women who assert that something is wrong. Even when laboratories and clinicians tell them that nothing is wrong and that all the test are okay they still insist that something is wrong but the problem is they have been proven correct. Can the witnesses tell us why that might be? I am talking about some of the most voracious forms of cancer. My theory is that the patient, who is the person in the eye of the storm, knows best. They do not have the medical knowledge required to describe what is wrong. However, if they feel something is wrong, they are usually correct. That has to be borne in mind.