Growing pressure for HSE chief to step down as scandal deepens
HSE director general Tony O’Brien is facing calls for his resignation following revelations about his involvement in the growing cervical smear scandal.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald led the charge in the Dáil yesterday for the sacking of Mr O’Brien, although the Taoiseach said he deserved a ‘fair hearing’ before any decision is made.
Cervical cancer sufferer Vicky Phelan has already called on Mr O’Brien to consider his position, saying on Monday that it was he who decided on the outsourcing of screenings to the US, despite the reservations of some clinicians.
And Ms McDonald told the Dáil yesterday: ‘The flaws in the system were highlighted, not least by members of the quality assurance committee [of the National Cervical Screening Programme].
‘Members of that committee resigned in protest because their words had fallen on deaf ears. They had fallen on the deaf ear of Mr Tony O’Brien, formerly of CervicalCheck, and now chief executive officer of the HSE. He knew this information but did nothing about it. His position is untenable and he needs to go. If he does not, the Taoiseach needs to sack him.’
Ms McDonald was referring to recent revelations that Mr O’Brien was made aware of potential issues with the outsourcing of smear tests to the US by Dr David Gibbons, a former senior adviser to the National Cervical Screening Programme, ten years ago.
Dr Gibbons said that in 2008 he found that the US labs were finding significantly fewer high-grade dysplasia than his lab was in the same population. He said his concerns were dismissed at the time.
Dr Gibbons was contacted by the Irish Daily Mail for comment yesterday, but was not available.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Today With Sean O’Rourke show yesterday, Mr O’Brien defended the outsourcing of smear tests to America and said delays in Irish laboratories led to this decision.
According to Mr O’Brien, the backlog in labs here was so bad that it would be months – and, in some cases, years – before women would receive their results.
However, Ms McDonald yesterday said under Dáil privilege: ‘The State’s strategy is to withhold information, to dodge liability and to aggressively face down patients – women, in this particular instance – and their families.
‘What we see here is concealment, harassment, cover-up and death.’