Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach’s reply follows a well worn pattern at this stage - denial after denial. The chief executive officers in question are conservative and would be the last to come out with a letter like this to the HSE. It is carefully written, but when it is decoded, they are saying they cannot take any further cut to hospital budgets and stand over patient safety in the current budgetary climate. Dr. Owen Smith is not an ordinary medical doctor and if I were the Taoiseach, I would not second-guess him. He has been the principal leader and pioneer in the treatment of childhood and teenage cancers. He knows what he is talking about. He has said there are delays in the treatment of young people and children, while outcomes are being compromised.

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