Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the parliamentary questions, I know this is never satisfactory, and I got the same answer when I was on that side of the House and I never found it particularly satisfactory. However, I receive about 15,000 to 20,000 parliamentary questions a year, so colleagues will appreciate that none of us can write all of our own responses to every parliamentary question. However, I am responsible for them and it is my name at the bottom of the page.

On the question the Deputy asks, I am not aware, nor am I aware of any suggestion that has ever been made to me, about pressure – presumably, we are talking about inappropriate pressure - being put on clinicians to do procedures which they did not believe were clinically appropriate to do. If that is the thrust, no, I am not aware of any such pressure.

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