Harney refuses to quit or return home early

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney insisted she will not resign but said it is up to the Taoiseach whether or not she stays on in office in a looming cabinet reshuffle.

As the crisis over unread X-rays and unopened GP referral letters at Tallaght Hospital continues, Ms Harney is defying calls from within Fianna Fáil to cut short her 15-day tour of New Zealand.

Speaking from Auckland she said: “I’m not going to resign. I’m here to do a job. Not withstanding the fact that I’m very far away, I’ve been totally in touch in relation to this issue.

“The Taoiseach has indicated his confidence in me. I’m very grateful for that confidence. The membership of government is a matter for the Taoiseach but for as long as I hold the Minister for Health I’m going to continue to reform the health system.”

While thousands of patients come to terms with the scandal of unread X-rays and unopened GP referral letters, the minister is almost 20,000km away where she is officially scheduled to “propose a toast to the Irish and friends of the Irish” at a banquet tomorrow night.

Tallaght Hospital admitted there was a backlog in October of almost 3,500 GP referral letters that had not been reviewed by a consultant, but rejected claims that up to 30,000 letters were unopened.

Hospital management will meet four local TDs today.

In a written statement Ms Harney said it was “unacceptable” that Tallaght Hospital did not open referral letters from GPs.

“While there were, in the past, unopened letters,” she said, the hospital management and staff “have been doing all possible to ensure all referrals are being processed appropriately... As a result, there are now no unopened letters”.

She said the backlog of at least 23,000 X-rays which have not been examined by a consultant radiologist is being dealt with “as fast as humanly and physically possible”.

Ms Harney said: “The central and over-riding priority in all aspects of healthcare, in every hospital, at every meeting and in every last detail of administration is the interest of patients.”

Mary O’Rourke TD said Ms Harney “should come home and acquaint herself fully of all the facts”. Tallaght TD Charlie O’Connor expressed reservations over her handling of the health service.

Their comments follow calls from back bench TD, Mattie McGrath, who said the Taoiseach should remove Ms Harney from the health portfolio in a looming cabinet reshuffle.

Ms O’Rourke said: “She should come back early, there’s no doubt about that.”

Ms Harney is scheduled to spend 10 more days in New Zealand, where her husband and three staff members are joining her for official St Patrick’s Day engagements.

But Ms O’Rourke told Matt Cooper on Today FM that “she should come back by the middle of next week. Once she has overseen the St Patrick’s Day parade and the dinner that night and whatever else leads up to that, she should come home and acquaint herself fully of all the facts”.

Mr O’Connor said he planned to phone the minister in New Zealand to discuss the situation with her. “I would hope the minister is closely monitoring the situation. I look forward to her being back,” he said.

Asked on Newstalk if he thought her handling of the health service was acceptable, Mr O’Connor answered “no”.

A spokesperson for Ms Harney said she does not intend to cut short her travels.