Less than 24 hours after the announcement that HSE boss, Tony O’Brien would be resigning from his post as director general of the HSE, Leo Varadkar appeared on RTÉ’s Six One News to discuss the next steps regarding the failings revealed by the CervicalCheck audit.
Minister for Health, Simon Harris’ position was questioned by a panel of politicians on Thursday night when he did not appear on The Tonight Show with Ivan Yeats and Matt Cooper to discuss the matter.
A programme which featured Emma Mhic Mhathúna and Vicky Phelan, two women who have been affected by the failings.
Surrounded by notes, it appeared obvious that the Taoiseach was rather unprepared for the interview and was taken aback at the volume of questions that were being thrown his way.
Despite this, he did not mention anything about the memos that had been released and also, shockingly confirmed that he was unsure whether or not the HSE is still using the lab that failed in its testing…
As one can imagine, the people of Ireland were angry and upset at the interview.
Rather unsettling to see a jumpy Taoiseach on live TV surrounded by notes that he kept glancing at. And, extraordinary, no mention of the dreaded memos. Who wrote them? Who read them? Why wasn’t he shown them? #CervicalCheckScandal #sixone pic.twitter.com/u5OYFqYdBQ
— Oliver Callan (@olivercallan) May 11, 2018
Varadkar is asked are HSE still using lab that failed in its testing?,he fumbles and stutters but then says he doesn’t think so but he will check!!!! Seriously how can anyone trust this incompetence???
— John North (@JohnNorth50) May 11, 2018
Whatever little respect I had for Leo Varadkar has now been lost. #CervicalCheckScandal #rtenews
— Marcus Ward (@MarcusWard92) May 11, 2018
Feeling very angry watching Leo Varadkar. He was just asked on the six one news if the lab which misdiagnosed Vicky Phelan is still being used and he said he’s not sure… How could he not know this information? #CervicalCheck #CervicalCheckScandal
— Donna Martin (@DonnaMartin03) May 11, 2018
Why did Leo Varadkar not make it his business to know if the lab at the centre of Vicky Phelan’s misdiagnosis is still being used?
— Bernadette Jameson (@BernieJameson) May 11, 2018
No empathy #sixone
— Annette Lawson (@AnnetteLawson) May 11, 2018
#sixone Is somebody going to ask Varadkar, the question everybody wants the answer to.? When is he resigning, and when is the General Election.? #CervicalCheckScandal #GE18 !
— Ger Mccann (@ger_mccann) May 11, 2018
The latest daily report from the HSE to outline and provide a progress update on the response to this evolving situation shows the audit found that for 209 women, the test could have provided a different result.
Of those 209 women, 203 of those have been contacted directly or the HSE has gotten in touch with their families.
The HSE states that most women have at this stage been contacted and meetings either held or arranged to discuss the audit and the response with them.
Main Image via: Oliver Callan.
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