James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

Obviously, the big question is funding. Has the amount been assessed or quantified? Is it ring-fenced for cancer care? Surely the Minister for Finance can find funds for a digital scanner in his own constituency. A digital scanner costs €400,000. An analogue scanner costs €250,000. As I have heard what the Ceann Comhairle said, I will not make statements. However, I will say the HSE overspent by €4.5 million on IT. This wasted sum could have been used to buy 11 digital scanners to safeguard patients.

During the course of her speech the Minister pointed out that concerns had been raised about the quality of radiology in the hospital in question in 2005 and that two positions had been advertised and filled, one by a locum. I asked her whether the locum in question was the individual who had been providing locum cover in 2005 when the original concerns were expressed. Furthermore, I am told that the doctors on the original interview panel raised concerns about the fact that the person being interviewed was never included in the relevant specialist register, a prerequisite for a consultant post, and that they also had concerns about her experience of reading mammograms but that their concerns were overruled by the other members on the board. If that is true, it is a very serious matter which I ask the Minister to investigate and report back to the House.

The other big question to which everybody wants an answer is when the new cancer service will begin. Will it commence in 2009, 2010, 2011 or 2015? We are very confused and hearing conflicting opinions from both the Minister and Professor Drumm. It is difficult to understand how one day Professor Drumm will say it will commence in 2015 and the next, 2009. Will the Minister explain to the House what has changed? Has she abandoned public private partnership as a process which would delay it? Will she confirm that the Taoiseach's statement this morning, that triple assessment only applies in cases of cancer, is wrong?

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