James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

In her speech, the Minister for Health and Children stated: "One person applied for the post, the doctor who had been a locum beforehand, was offered the position, and took it up on 1 November 2005." Is this the same locum about whose expertise the surgeon had concerns? The Minister might answer this later.

I accept totally the Minister's statement that the same pictures taken by the mammography machine were presented to other experts to be read. This raises two points. Regardless of whether international guidelines are concerned, the case demonstrates clearly that it would be wise to accept a guideline stipulating that two radiologists read each mammogram. With modern technology and digital imaging, this can be done from a remote location anywhere in Ireland irrespective of where the mammogram is taken. However, having said that, it is crucial to remember that Portlaoise Hospital was designated as the breast care centre for the midlands, as announced by the Minister's predecessor and committed to by the Government. The commitment amounts to an old machine that the Government would not replace. What does this say about the resourcing of and commitment to a service? It beggars belief.

The Minister stated the surgeon raised the issues in question because of false positives rather than false negatives. Nobody is disputing this but the point is that, having put somebody on administrative leave, the Minister's answer to this crisis and the people of the midlands is to close down the service rather than employ another competent radiologist to resume it. It is all very well talking about centres of excellence but the modus operandi of the Government seems to be one of saying, "Live horse and you will get hay". One cannot expect those with a breast lump, who need a mammogram tomorrow, to wait for a centre of excellence that will be created some time in the hazy future.

Over recent months we have seen the harsh reality of the consequences of the Government's neglect and mismanagement of the health service. Regardless of what the Minister said, women all over Ireland have suffered as a result of bad equipment and poor practice where an individual professional is left isolated while reading mammograms. Best practice should involve reassuring people that human error will be reduced to a minimum by the system.

The problem is not isolated in one centre in Portlaoise because the horror story is repeated in Limerick, Cork and Galway. On Monday we heard of yet another tragic case in which a women who had previously been given the all-clear for breast cancer has now been diagnosed as having the disease. We therefore know for sure that a total of eight women have been misdiagnosed at Portlaoise Hospital. A further 19 women from the midlands have yet to find out whether they have also been diagnosed incorrectly. It is tremendously difficult to even begin to understand how these women and their families and friends feel today. Being diagnosed with cancer at any stage is an enormously distressing and frightening experience for them and the consequences of late diagnosis can be devastating. I hope and pray this will not be the case but we know that all the evidence shows that the longer one delays a diagnosis, the more likely the outcome will be negative rather than positive.

Last May, the diagnosis of Rebecca O'Malley was delayed for 14 months because of an error made in Cork. In August, a woman from County Tipperary had two separate tests taken at Barringtons Hospital. On both occasions, the samples were sent to University College Hospital, Galway, and were given the all-clear, yet, when her own doctor had the results rechecked in Cork, it was revealed she had the disease. We learned recently that the Department of Health and Children was aware of specific concerns at Barringtons Hospital as long ago as January 2006, yet it failed to take action for 19 months. Rather than taking action, it allowed questionable practices to continue. How many women's lives were put at risk during this period and how long did it take for the HSE's midland area to act on the information on the state of its machine sent to it by the radiologists, who requested a modern digital machine?

By the Minister's own admission, through the Taoiseach, it was stated the normal life of these machines is ten or 11 years. Many of those in use are older. If the Government is truly committed to health care and centres of excellence, there must be ring-fenced funding and we must know where it is coming from. It is not good enough to say a reorganisation of the health budget will achieve this. Frankly, I do not believe the Minister in this regard, nor does anybody else at this stage.

The Minister's credibility is on the line because there were cutbacks in spite of her saying on the national airwaves that their would be none. The list in this regard grows longer and includes Sligo, Galway and Beaumont hospitals, the National Rehabilitation Hospital, home care packages for the disabled and home care for the elderly. The Minister opened a theatre in Louth County Hospital with great fanfare in April, just before the election. It remains closed because the doors of the two theatres, which cost €5 million, do not work.

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