James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

Dr. Naughton made the then Minister aware that despite the allocation of funding, none of the necessary specialist personnel were in place or had been advertised for, including surgeons, radiologists and pathologists. Dr. Naughton wrote that life would be much easier for him if he walked away because, at least in that case, patients would need to go elsewhere to get a service they deserved and could rely on. Unlike the current Minister, he realised people were being misled as to the nature of the service, believing it to be the best available as a designated centre, but this was not the case because staffing had not been put in place. By that time, Dr. Naughton had written approximately seven letters highlighting his frustration and despair with cancer services in Portlaoise. However, nothing occurred or changed and no one took any notice. For this reason, we face this situation today.

The Minister was oblivious to this letter when I raised the matter with her on 21 November. When a freedom of information request was made, the letter could not be found. I want to know why. We need an inquiry into this matter, as our democracy demands it. How many other files in this Department or others are incomplete? We need to get to the root of the matter. History reveals that, when similar issues occurred previously in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a major investigation took place immediately and was reported on within four weeks.

This is not the first time we have been denied information. On 6 November 2007, the Taoiseach misled the House on when the Minister, Deputy Harney, was first notified of the difficulties with breast cancer services in Portlaoise. While he claimed that it was in August 2007, we know that a letter was sent in July 2005. In it, the consultant told the Minister that radiological services were being provided by people who had no expertise and that women were having or might have unnecessary surgery because of a lack of decision making. What was the Minster's response? She did not even read the letter. Instead, she passed the buck to the HSE, which passed it to the network manager, who passed it to the hospital manager, who interviewed the consultant. The Minister stated that appropriate action was taken, that is, a senior clinician spoke with the clinician in question. However, appropriate action would have been to put in place the specialist in mammography, a pathologist and a clinical team leader. It was not done and I do not accept the Minister's contention.

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