THERE WERE heated exchanges when Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly claimed that a company found guilty of fraud had been awarded a Government contract.
Quest Diagnostics, he said, had been awarded the cytology contract for 300,000-500,000 smears as part of the State's cervical screening programme. "This company has been found guilty of fraud to the tune of €40 million and has been awarded a huge contract in this country, as a consequence of which we will lose a pool of experience and over 100 jobs," he added.
The company, he said, had an accuracy rate of 85 per cent, while the Republic's laboratories had a 95 per cent accuracy rate.
"The rationale is based on the fact that it carries out smears annually, while we do them every five years," said Dr Reilly. He added that it would not be possible to discuss a matter of concern with one's cytologist, who would be in America.
"We do not even know how much this will cost, and patients' lives are being put at risk."
Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, who was taking the Order of Business, claimed that Dr Reilly's remarks were completely and utterly inappropriate.
"As a man who is a general practitioner, and whose ideology is to ensure the safety of patients, Deputy Reilly could not but fully agree that in terms of accuracy in cytology, we have the best facilities available to the women in Ireland," she added. "The deputy knows well that we have issues of clinical governance to deal with."
Dr Reilly said that as a woman, the Tánaiste should know the seriousness of the issue. "She knows precisely what I am saying," he added. "I challenge her to tell us the facts."
Ms Coughlan said it was appropriate to advise the House that the issue at hand was to deal with overcharging.
