Bev to back Harney

Bev offers full support for Harney

Claire Egan

MAYO Independent Deputy Beverley Flynn will give her full backing to Mary Harney during a vote of no confidence in the Minister for Health in the Dáil tomorrow morning (Wednesday).
The motion, put forward by the Labour Party, comes on foot of a series of misdiagnoses of women who attended the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise for cancer tests in the past two years. Pressure has been mounting on the Minister since last Thursday evening, when it emerged at an Oireachtas committee meeting that 97 women were to be recalled, following fears of misdiagnosis. The Minister had no prior knowledge of the crisis.
Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday) evening, Ms Flynn said she would be supporting the Government on this issue and believed that Ms Harney should remain in her post.
“She has been entrusted with an extremely difficult job, one for which she has shown a huge commitment over the years and it is a job which she wanted to take. She has tackled the task of reforming the HSE, which is a mammoth task, and has put in place a number of good plans such as the National Cancer Care Strategy, which I agree with in principle, but obviously I still have issues with regard to Mayo General Hospital (MGH). She has tackled the consultants over their contracts and, overall, has demonstrated a huge amount of courage in the three years she has been in the post,” said Deputy Flynn.
The Mayo deputy acknowledged that ‘no one could stand over’ the events at Portlaoise hospital and described the misdiagnoses as a ‘complete disaster’. However, she continued by saying that the recent high-profile cancer misdiagnoses are not the sole ‘fault’ of the beleaguered health minister It is anticipated that the Government will table a counter motion in support of the Health Minister. Furthermore, Deputy Harney has indicated that she will not be leaving her position and is expected to defend her record in the Dáil tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, the Oireachtas Committee on Health, of which Deputy Flynn is a member, met with Professor Brendan Drumm and Minister Harney early last week. The National Cancer Care Strategy dominated proceedings, with assurances sought on the future of cancer services at MGH.
It was also confirmed that Professor Tom Keane, the new Director of Cancer Control, is to meet with Consultant Surgeon at Mayo General Hospital, Kevin Barry, in the coming weeks.