O’Keeffe silence on blood tests ‘a sellout’

THE embattled Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe has been accused of “selling out” by failing to criticise the call to stop blood-testing in Cork.

According to Cork North Central TD and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bernard Allen, Mr O’Keeffe was “one of the strongest supporters of a fully functioning testing centre in Cork and lobbied publicly for its establishment”, and yet has failed to voice his concern since it emerged that testing will be centralised in Dublin.

Mr Allen said: “This decision goes against the advice of two significant reports and flies in the face of international best practice, but once again second best is deemed to be good enough for the Irish health service.