Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thought I misheard the last time. Last week at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health, I welcomed the commitment to going down the route of mandatory disclosure. It is an idea whose time is long overdue. Any more information on the when and the how of that will be welcome. I know there is legislation planned in that area. I am concerned about those women who have not been diagnosed with cancer but who may be fearful that there may be information in wrongly-read scans that could affect them and their case.

When I asked the question about the near 12,000 telephone calls that have been made so far to the helpline, I gathered that about 50% of those calls relate to people who have not been diagnosed with cancer. If that is the case, it is a real measure of the fear out there. It is very important that people get answers as soon as possible.

I was also concerned to read that the gentleman in charge of the scoping inquiry, Dr. Gabriel Scally, is concerned that there is a fevered atmosphere within the Department of Health as people scramble to be ready for the grilling by the Committee of Public Accounts. That might pose some threat to the scoping inquiry and simply must not be allowed to happen.

I will briefly advert to what Senator Ivana Bacik had to say about last night's programme. She is right to deplore anybody calling anybody else a liar. The Senator, however, would be on stronger ground if she took the sauce for the goose as sauce for the gander approach and recalled that there were people on both sides last night who were subject to that particular accusation. It is important to not just pick our own side and sing that grievance. Dr. Peter Boylan-----