Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said, I have only become aware of this case in the last couple of hours. I would like to be able to give the Deputy more definitive answers than I can at present. It may well be the case that the people who were the decision makers in this case followed the rules to the letter and did not allow for a degree of compassion and humanity. There is anad misericordiamprinciple that exists in the Health Acts that allows one to make exceptions in extenuating circumstances. That is the basis on which, for example, we allow lots of discretionary medical cards. There is a responsibility on us as politicians and on senior leadership and management of the HSE to change the rules if needs be. One cannot really blame staff on the ground for applying the rules as they are but if the rules need to be changed, they will be.

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