Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I support the comments of other Senators on the situation in Portlaoise, where a number of people who were told last year that they did not have cancer have now been told they have the disease. While I agree the issue should not be made a political football, there are important lessons to be learned from this disaster. One can only imagine the torment, upset and misery brought about by human failure, or whatever source, for these people. We need to learn from this disaster and ensure that it is never allowed to be repeated.

I agree with Senator MacSharry and the former Leader of the House, Deputy Mary O'Rourke, in their outright condemnation of the flippant comments by the chief executive of the HSE on this issue. We cannot blame public protest for a systems failure, particularly where the state of the equipment was brought to the attention of the hospital management. It is a bit rich to see political immunity being granted to the political system, no matter who is the Minister for Health and Children. The HSE is masking responsibility on this issue, which is not right.