James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

Excuse me, I want to remind the Minister of State of what he said. I did not hear an apology to the family of the patient who died, the persons whose delayed diagnosis may have impaired their recovery or the parents, families and friends of the patients concerned for the distress caused by the problem, not by the manner in which it was leaked. That is the issue. I do apologise, on behalf of my own party and, I am sure, every Member of this Dáil, for the State's failure yet again under this so-called reforming Minister, who is too busy in New Zealand to be in this House to address this issue, and we know she knew about it before she travelled.

I want to ask some salient questions. On what date was the serious incident protocol the Minister alluded to established? What is the position in other hospitals such as Beaumont, my own hospital, Blanchardstown hospital, Cavan hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital and Cork University Hospital? Are these practices going on in those hospitals? Are X-rays that have not been read by consultant radiologists piled up in a corner in those hospitals? We need to know the answers to these questions.

HIQA has not covered itself in glory on this issue. We asked it a question and it stated it must get assurance from the hospitals that this is not the case. It must go into those hospitals and check, on behalf of the Irish people, that the hospitals are safe and that there are not X-rays waiting to be reviewed. It should not take somebody's word on that and walk away.

I would point out, in regard to Tallaght hospital, information which came to me from my colleague, Deputy Brian Hayes, who is in the Chamber. There are only 12 radiologists in Tallaght hospital, which the Minister has confirmed, yet it sees nearly twice as many people per annum in its outpatients department, and nearly twice as many people in its accident and emergency department, as St. Vincent's, which has 16 radiologists.

This is chronic under-resourcing and a failure by the Minister to face up to her responsibilities. I refer to the continued approach whereby the Minister says she was told about a matter but left it to others to review. I refer also to the disingenuousness of saying, "I do not meddle"

The Minister had better wake up and realise there is a huge difference between managing and meddling. What she has done is mismanage. I, for one, found she has been grossly ineffective, has dithered and should resign. No doubt we will receive more evidence of her wonderful approach to reform. The Minister of State should note that the Minister's main plank of reform regarding bed capacity comprised the now much-discredited co-located hospitals. With regard to the cancer strategy, recommendations on only one of all the cancers, breast cancer, have been delivered upon.

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