Harney to defend no confidence motion

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney will “robustly” face down her opponents in the Dáil tonight when defending the motion of no confidence arising from her role in the cancer screening crisis.

As Ms Harney and her advisers continued to work on the script last night, it emerged she is likely to focus on her reputation for compassion when responding to the motion.

The motion of no confidence was tabled by the Labour Party just before the weekend, following last week’s revelation that 97 women were to be recalled for surgical review after queries were raised about ultrasound scans carried out on them. In a huge embarrassment to the Health Minister, it emerged both Ms Harney and HSE chief executive Brendan Drumm first learnt about the recall of the 97 women only when a senior official announced it at the health committee meeting last Thursday.