Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is not simply a question of looking for heads, as the Taoiseach puts it; this is a matter of seeking and securing accountability. I said to the Taoiseach in my remarks that he told us - I understood this in good faith - that he would put the women and families who have been devastated by this scandal front and centre. I am now asking him to demonstrate his bona fides in that regard. Those concerned have said that, for them, the first step in achieving accountability is to hold Mr. O'Brien to account. That is what they want and that is what the Tánaiste has been told. So far, it seems we are going around in circles. On the one hand, the Taoiseach critiques the HSE and its leadership but, on the other, he is not prepared to act and lead from the front. That is his job. It seems to people looking in from the outside, not least the women and their families, that Mr. O'Brien is absolutely untouchable - untouchable even though wives have been lost to their husbands, untouchable even though mothers have been lost to their children, untouchable even though life itself has been lost to women, and untouchable even though the man has patently and clearly failed in his duties. I want to know what the Taoiseach is going to do about that today.

The only thing that has any credibility or that will honour the Taoiseach's promise to listen to the women and their families is for him to state clearly - as, I understand, members of his Cabinet have stated today - that he has no confidence in Mr. O'Brien, that Mr. O'Brien must go, that Mr. O'Brien is not part of the solution and that, in fact, his leadership of the HSE has been part of the problem.

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