The report on the cancer misdiagnosis cases in Portlaoise hospital is expected to be published at the end of this month, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil.
Mr Ahern said the HSE had informed him that there were two aspects to the report. "First, there are the nine women who were identified as having a diagnosis of cancer, and second, there is the clinical review of the ultrasounds, which is also complete, and no cancers were detected in that review."
The HSE has informed the Department of Health and Children that the report on the reviews will be published as soon as the necessary legal requirements have been completed. Mr Ahern said Minister for Health Mary Harney had asked the chief executive officer of the HSE for a report on the circumstances that led to the suspension of the breast radiology services in the hospital.
That report, which was done by a review group led by Dr Ann O'Doherty, had been completed and submitted to the chief executive officer of the HSE, but he could not say when it would be published.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the Irish Cancer Society had said that up to 30,000 cancer cases were being diagnosed in the State each year. "This is a significant number in a country of just over four million. The society tells us that the numbers are increasing and that, in the next 12 years, we may face a cancer epidemic."
