Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I do not know whether it is a coincidence that two of these reports have been published on the day this question is tabled, with a third to be published later this afternoon. We did not have much time to read the two reports published earlier today. Will the Minister take a hands-on approach to this issue? We tabled a motion of no confidence in her last autumn and I have not read or heard anything today to suggest we were wrong in that regard. The reports we received today expose a total shambles in terms of HSE management in the midlands. I have no reason to believe it is not the same elsewhere. There is an array of managers who perform different roles and do not report to each other. Even clinical directors report to different people than those to whom nurse managers report. Has the Minister undertaken any investigation of how management is operating in the HSE? Why has she approved the appointment of six senior managers above grade eight this year?

At the meeting on 28 August in Portlaoise why were there five managers but no doctor? Is the Minister not concerned about this? The initial response of the HSE which was posted on the Department's website seemed to indicate its intention to do something about the management of serious incidents. Clearly, there is no intention to do anything about how management operates in various hospitals.

Will the Minister take responsibility for the HSE, which she established? Clearly, it is a shambles. Does she accept that patients' lives are being put at risk because there is no clear understanding of what is going on? In the case of Portlaoise, why was there no triple assessment and no radiologist with expertise in mammography? Why were women's lives put at risk by the misdiagnoses arising from this?

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