Harney and Drumm to face questioning from TDs

Minister for Health Mary Harney and HSE chief executive Brendan Drumm are expected to face tough questions when they appear before the Oireachtas Health Committee in Leinster House today.

The meeting comes in the wake of the controversy over the cancer misdiagnosis scandal at Portlaoise Hospital.

Harney and Prof. Drumm are expected to use the occasion to again defend their plan to streamline all cancer services into just eight "centres of excellence" nationwide.

They have already said that this system would have prevented the Portlaoise scandal because of the extra expertise it provides.