Dr. Gabriel Scally:

I quite agree that we do. I found it quite difficult to understand the level of poor management that went on. I met some excellent cervical screening staff in Limerick.

There were two things about it. First, I was horrified to hear the way in which they had been subject to death threats and that one person had been spat on in public and so on. Some of those staff members are excellent and dedicated people who deserve a great deal of gratitude for their efforts over the year. They may not have been well led, but many of them are very good. The second thing was that I knew there was a problem with people not having proper job roles and job descriptions. At the meeting, I asked if those among the staff attending who had a job description would raise their hands. One person raised a hand in that room which was full of people and everyone laughed. I asked why they were laughing and they pointed out that the person had only just joined the organisation which was why there was a job description. None of the others had one. It is very difficult to blame people for failing to a carry out a job when there is no job description. It is very difficult.