Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I have never denied that the Minister is a good politician. She stated tonight, more or less, that she has been a great survivor in every election she has contested, but that does not make her a good Minister for Health and Children.

In response to the comments of the Taoiseach, the Minister and the Government in the past few weeks, I do not, nor would any sensible person, expect the Minister or the Taoiseach to sit at the bedsides of sick people, hold their hands and check over every medical decision made. I expect the services set up by the Government, with the people who run them, to have the capabilities to ensure the correct decisions are made.

Responsibility must be accepted by those within the HSE for this mess, but there must be political accountability as well. If there is no political accountability in this instance, will there ever be a decision from the Government that demands political accountability? Clearly there will not, and that does not bode well for what is supposed to be a democratic and civilised society.

When the issue first arose in August, the women involved were given wrong and misleading information. The HSE stated that there was no cause for concern and there was no expectation of any woman having a misdiagnosis or an inappropriate procedure. A few months earlier, the same organisation indicated that the case of Rebecca O'Malley would prove to be an isolated incident, but sadly that has not been the case.

We now see the hollowness of those reassurances. There has been a lack of coherence, urgency and care in the actions of the Minister and the HSE. We were told women would be put first but the Minister, Deputy Harney, immediately passed the buck to the HSE, stating that it would carry out the essential task of providing the women with all the necessary treatment, services and counselling as a matter of urgency. This did not happen, however.

A review was ordered, the terms of reference of which we only discovered today. There is an expectation it will be published this week, but the Minister has informed us it is now with the lawyers. Why can a review not come to her with the full and unbridled truth? Why does it have to go through lawyers? If anyone is entitled to see the full review first, it is surely the Minister.

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