Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

The Minister stated that Dr. Peter Naughton is a highly respected consultant. If the Minister for Health and Children cannot be bothered, or is denied an opportunity, to read his correspondence, what correspondence is read in the Department? Whose letters does the Minister read if she does not read letters from consultant surgeons in Portlaoise warning her of the shambolic state of affairs in that hospital?

The Minister has displayed a serious lack of judgment by surrounding herself with people who will not refer letters of a crucial nature to her, and pleading ignorance is no defence. Her professed ignorance and lack of sufficient interest has shaken the faith of the entire nation in our health services and has led to a nightmare for thousands of women throughout the country and hundreds of women in the midlands.

In 2005, the Minister's office prevented her from reading correspondence and exercising the ministerial responsibility vested in her. Worse, she has had the opportunity since August to show that she is a capable and competent Minister, but she has failed to take a hands-on approach. Women were told they may have breast cancer in a curt letter from the HSE or on the lunchtime news. For women in that position, every second is like an eternity, yet days passed before the Department or the HSE even opened a helpline. The women were told last week they would be dealt with in Dublin but that was belatedly changed to Portlaoise. One of the women described by the Minister as "brave and courageous" was told last week at the 11th hour that was no bed for her to undergo surgery in St. Vincent's hospital.

Three weeks ago in this House, I posed 12 questions to the Minister. I told her in the morning I was putting the questions in early to allow her officials to give her the answers before the end of the debate. If she had got those answers, or even read those questions, she would not have been in the position of ignorance she was in at the committee before Deputy Reilly last week. The Minister's response to the situation in Portlaoise has been political, as exemplified by her response this evening. She has argued that local interests prevented the so-called centres of excellence for cancer services from being built and singled me out in that criticism. However, she stopped the clock in 2000.

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