Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

The Taoiseach is injecting confusion into the hip operation scandal. Yesterday in the Dáil, I asked him about the letters that were sent to parents covering a period as far back as 15 years ago. I asked on what basis those parents were being sent the letters if they were not part of the two-year audit. In his answer, the Taoiseach gave a number of contradictory statements. He said first of all that the letters recalling patients were part of a routine follow-up of appointments. He also said that the letters were because the Department had identified patients not included in the audit but may have been affected by the findings. He said that the letters were sent because the media had reported on the draft audit report. RTÉ is reporting that the letters were sent a recommendation of an unpublished review. All of these things cannot be true at the same time. Will the Taoiseach correct the record of the Dáil yesterday and state exactly the purpose and the reason these individuals received those letters and give clarity to the parents on this matter?

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