Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

That is the serious question, that the radiologist in question gave the all clear. I wish to clarify that one consultant radiologist is on administrative leave but the inquiry does not concern only the work of that person. There are two consultant radiologists. There were two locums during that period.

The interview was held by the Public Appointments Commission and I understand there were a number of radiologists on the interview panel, perhaps two. A recommendation was made; the job was offered and the person who was a locum got the job, for which there was only one applicant. There was a subsequent advertisement for another post and the person who was offered the job declined to take it. The radiology unit had two consultant radiologists and two locums during the period. The two locums have probably moved on in the intervening period.

Regarding the scanner, the same scans were read by three consultants in Dublin. The three did not read each one — they divided 3,000 between them. They made a diagnosis of cancer based on the mammogram taken in Portlaoise. It is preferable to have the most modern machinery. Digital mammography was not as developed as digital radiology. Some years ago, when digital radiology was introduced, the advice was not to introduce it for mammography because it was evolving very quickly. I spoke to a practitioner last night who told me that Ireland had made the transition to digital mammography faster than the United Kingdom. When Portlaoise hospital was asked for its capital priorities, its priority was the CT scanner, not a mammogram machine.

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