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

Nobody wants accountability more than Emma or other women and families in her circumstances. I do not believe the Taoiseach's response, to be blunt. What I see is a person who leads the Government and who knows well what needs to happen and what is the right thing to do. I do not dispute the sequence of events and share the Taoiseach's view that the most egregious offence was the withholding of information. We cannot with all certainty state whether in each case the withholding of that information had a material affect in diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Let others decide on that. What Emma told me is that she sees is the Taoiseach, the leader of Government, fail her. Has it occurred to the Taoiseach that women like Emma might not be around to hear the results of these inquiries? Mr. O'Brien has eight or 12 weeks left, depending on when he takes his leave, but who is to say how long Emma has? She has a very simple request of the Taoiseach, and it is a challenge to him as Head of Government because it is something that we do not do in this jurisdiction. The Tony O'Briens of this world do not stand down, and Governments here do not sack them or tell them to clear their desks. She wants to see the start of accountability now. That means the departure of the man in charge of the HSE, the director general with whom the buck stops. It is as simple and clear cut as that.

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