Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

Like other speakers, I acknowledge the trauma, anxiety, terror and hurt being experienced by those women who were either diagnosed late or misdiagnosed as regards cancer in the past year or so. I listened with interest to the speeches of the Minister and the Taoiseach this morning and am appalled at the manner in which some of these issues have virtually been dismissed.

It is enormously traumatic for any woman who has a concern about potential cancer. The first thing she thinks about is early diagnosis and availing of the services as quickly as possible. There is considerable mystery about centres of excellence. This is not rocket science, according to my information. Modern technology has leant itself extensively to the medical area in general. Therefore, it is possible now for an early, first-class and accurate diagnosis to be given in several small areas in close proximity to each other. I cannot for the life of me understand how there was no cross-checking of results. This morning the Taoiseach informed the House that only in very particular circumstances was there cross-checking. This cannot be right. I cannot understand why this is happening.

What is going on as regards the appointment of people to the positions they hold? Surely, it must be possible to identify the people who are suitable in the first place and ensure they are capable of carrying out the work they propose to do. It has to be possible that if the Department, the chief executive or the Minister is informed that certain technology is outdated and not functioning properly, someone should recognise that this is a serious matter. Something must be done about it immediately, with no postponement to another day.

The last point I want to make is about something with which I strongly disagree. There is now a notion abroad that this particular tragic issue is about to be used as a vehicle for bringing this about the closure of a whole series of hospitals and health centres throughout the country. I urge the Minister not to take that route, because it would be a serious mistake. This has happened before. I have seen this throughout my entire time in public life, namely, issues of this nature used as vehicles to achieve a particular target. I urge the Minister not to go there, and I shall tell her why.

Deputy Jim McDaid made an interesting intervention when he made reference to the fact that in these cases women can very often be away from home in bed and breakfasts and so on. I listened to a woman recently on radio who set out the way she felt when she left home and booked into a bed and breakfast. She described the loneliness of being left alone and the impersonal nature of the situation in which she found herself. There is one way of dealing with this. Centres of excellence will not deal with it. They will give an excellent service, but as the Minister knows, they do not provide the quality of service required unless they have the committed people required to do so. They will not provide the personal service and as Deputy O'Mahony has indicated, there are people throughout this country who have become reliant on the services in their local areas. They know the people concerned, they depend upon them and I ask the Minister to be very slow to remove them from the arena.

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