Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am reminded of the words, "Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into failure." We have gone a long way toward doing that in respect of the cervical cancer debacle. I have always been in favour of mandatory reporting. Like others, I am reminded of my own region in the context of the events involving Fr. Brendan Smith and the conduct of Mr. Shine and Dr. Neary. If the behaviour of certain individuals had been the subject of mandatory reporting, I am sure that many of the women who lost their wombs, had symphysiotomies or were harmed in any way as a result of their interaction with the health service, much of this could have been at least prevented.

What has happened in the context of the CervicalCheck scandal is utterly unforgivable. As I argued last week, there is major overhaul required in the clinical governance and management of the HSE. The Minister for Health needs a team of medically trained people in charge of the HSE. That team should include top consultants and physicians in all sectors and also nursing managers. In the main, we have been hiring people with management qualifications to manage the HSE and most of those people are involved in crisis management. The people are screaming out for change. They want trust in the system. I appeal to the Minister to consider the observations I have made, as somebody who has been involved with the health service since 1991.

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