FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has expressed his determination to stay on in office while undergoing a course of chemotherapy treatment for cancer which he will start later this week.
Mr Lenihan said his diagnosis just before Christmas was "a great shock" and acknowledged the seriousness of his illness, saying: "It’s a growth I intend to defeat or it will defeat me."
But the defiant Finance Minister returned to work yesterday and insisted he will "surmount this challenge" and can "give this job the full attention it requires".
Staff in the Mater Hospital in Dublin, where Mr Lenihan is being treated, got international opinion on his position and, based on their advice, the minister said: "I can see no reason why I cannot fulfil the duties of the office and I intend to do that."
Taoiseach Brian Cowen spoke to Mr Lenihan following his diagnosis on the Tuesday before Christmas and indicated his support for Mr Lenihan staying in office.
"He was very upset to hear of my bad news but he indicated to me that he was anxious that if I could see my way to continuing to serve I would."
Yesterday, in his first public interview since being diagnosed with the illness, the 50-year-old told RTÉ radio he faces a six month programme of chemotherapy "with regular doses every fortnight" to treat cancerous tissue found at the entrance of his pancreas. Mr Lenihan also expects to undergo radiotherapy but there are no plans for surgery at this stage.
He accepted this treatment could be "debilitating" and "exhausting" but stressed that "it doesn’t impair your mental capacity or your intellectual capacities and that’s the crucial thing".
Mr Lenihan intends to finalise the Finance Bill to give legal effect to measures in the budget and bring it to the Dáil before the end of January.
He also intends to oversee the work of NAMA as it begins the process of taking over bad loans from the country’s banks.
The Government does not have any plans to assign his duties to a junior minister. Instead, Mr Lenihan intends to "prioritise" areas of his work and spend less time on public engagements.
He has contacted the opposition spokespersons on finance, Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton and Labour’s Joan Burton, requesting that they keep up their robust debate of economic policy.
Wishing the minister a "full and speedy recovery", Mr Bruton said his "frank and detailed statement about his illness is commendable".
Ms Burton, a constituency colleague of Mr Lenihan in Dublin West, said he is "a courageous and resilient individual".
A spokesperson for the Green Party said: "We were saddened by the news of his illness but heartened by Brian’s response and will give him every support in the coming weeks and months."
Mr Lenihan accepted he had been working up to 14-hour days over the past year and that "stress and strain" are a contributory factor in his form of cancer. But, he said: "I have to say I have enjoyed my time in the Department of Finance and haven’t felt under particular stress."
Mr Lenihan said he had always intended to make a statement "because the medical condition of the Minister for Finance is a matter of public interest". But he criticised the timing of the TV3 report on his illness, saying: "I don’t see why it was in the public interest to broadcast this on St Stephen’s Day."
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, January 05, 2010
