John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I wish to share my time with Deputy McDaid.

I extend my sympathies to the women affected and to their families. County Laois Deputies are more acutely aware of the effects on the families and we know some of the families involved.

The Government and the Minister have properly extended the time allowed for these statements today. I compliment the Minister on her immediate apology to the families because this takes considerable backbone.

I have been aware of this debate in the midlands for the best part of ten years. We were one of the first places to discuss the idea of lead centres for cancer care. I refer to the National Cancer Forum and to Professor Jim Fennelly who chaired that forum. I welcome the proposal for eight centres of excellence which is the way forward. However, I hope the Minister will, in her usual forthright manner, explain to this House and to the public how those centres are to be funded. It is essential that confidence is restored by explaining how these centres are to be funded and staffed. People who depend on more localised services must be reassured that services will be continued up and until the centres of excellence are established.

I was a member of a health board during the 1990s, in particular from 1997 onwards. The midlands health board became a very divided health board. Everyone came to the table with the belief that they were proposing and providing the best level of cancer care within their own counties to cover the whole region. The health board region contained three acute hospitals, in Portlaoise, Mullingar and Tullamore. It was a divisive issue when it came to the selection of the lead hospital.

When the eight centres of excellence are delivered it will be important that all the medical staff within those centres will be singing the same tune and believing in what is being delivered. Unless they have a belief in the service, we will not persuade the public to buy into it. I speak as one with experience who grappled with the issue in the midlands.

I supported the location of the lead centre in Tullamore against the wishes of my own county. The impression was that I had let my county down, let down my people. I took the independent medical advice of the cancer forum. I would dread to see the same fate visited on any Member of this House who might support a hospital in some other county. If we are to set up these centres, we must be able to first assure the public, the medical people and the politicians that these centres can work and will deliver the service required in a centre of excellence.

I do not want to come back to the Portlaoise issue specifically but it is important that every report is seen to be independent in an effort to restore confidence within this hospital. It is important to recognise that the staff in the hospital are under pressure. This report must be published as quickly as possible and be seen to be independent.

I believe in the Minister's commitment. I have no time for questions on her ability to run the Department. I fully believe she can do so and is committed to and has the determination to do so. The appointment of Dr. Keane should at long last provide the level of service that is required. I hope that as we move on and as the report is published that we will have learned from the divisions of the past. The first step in securing confidence in such centres must be securing the support of the medical staff, otherwise there will be the same level of division that, unfortunately, has halted progress in the midland region in recent years. When summing up I appeal to the Minister to clarify when the centres will be up and running and how they will be funded.

See this speech in context