James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

Does she expect all medics who are concerned about the quality and reliability of machinery to walk away from the job and their patients, as she suggested in her response in the Dáil where she said that if the machine was so faulty, why did the radiologists continue to use it? The reality is that faced with the machine with which they must deliver the service, people deliver the service they can.

This unacceptable attitude is indicative of a Minister who is unable to cope with the responsibility of managing the health service. She has relinquished responsibility to the HSE and many would say that she has lost control of it. In a radio interview, the chief executive officer of the HSE cast aspersions on the public for protesting to try to hold on to their services.

The Minister told the House that nine women have been diagnosed and are undergoing treatment. I welcome that news because in the newspapers, it was suggested that six women were still waiting for a diagnosis and treatment, which would be totally unacceptable.

I wish to ask the Minister directly, because she has not answered the question, whether there are any other letters in her Department regarding the quality and reliability of services in the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise addressed to her, her predecessor or other senior officials of which we should be aware. Could she confirm whether the doctor carrying out the current review of the mammograms was one of the doctors on the interview board that appointed the locum consultant in the first instance because if this is the case, it creates a conflict of interest?

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