I begin by thanking Aoife Hegarty and the team from "RTÉ Investigates" for their essential piece of public service broadcasting last night. I commend the bravery of Alison McCormack who took part in the programme and shared her story.

People should feel safe in our hospitals and they should be sure that they are getting the right care and the best possible care. They should be able to trust the advice of medical professionals and rest assured that the advice given is in their best interest. People should also be confident that when a mistake has been made and medical professionals and hospitals or other health institutions become aware of it, they will be informed and that all will be done to rectify their situation. That is what should naturally happen in a well-run health service.

Compassion and honesty should be evident at all levels and even more so at the higher institutional levels of our hospitals. This honesty and compassion was missing from the treatment of Alison McCormack and this is extremely worrying. It was missing when Ms McCormack was first diagnosed with breast cancer at St. James’s Hospital in 2010 when the pathologist misdiagnosed the seriousness of the cancer in the original biopsy. It was missing when the same pathologist then misdiagnosed the breast tissue that was examined following Ms McCormack's mastectomy.

Two years later in October 2012, Ms McCormack discovered a lump in her neck and returned to St. James’s Hospital for tests. The original cancer had come back and had spread into the lymph nodes of her arm and up into her neck. Ms McCormack began to ask questions as to why her cancer had returned and at her request a meeting with St. James’s Hospital was arranged where she was informed for the first time that her cancer had been misdiagnosed. I put it to the Taoiseach that this meeting was at Ms McCormack's request. She had to ask for it. Nobody came looking for her.

This situation has been further compounded by the fact that the hospital had been aware of a misdiagnosis since February 2013 but Ms McCormack was not informed until November 2013, after she had requested a meeting with the hospital. Nobody came to find her. This woman lost nine long months. Ms McCormack, as a cancer patient, had to go and look for the truth. Had she not gone looking for that truth she never would have learned that the hospital and the pathologist who had examined her had made a huge mistake. Why was Ms McCormack not immediately informed of the misdiagnosis when it was discovered in February 2013?

The "RTÉ Investigates" reporter pointed out that a review of every tenth case, as well as a further nine cases of ductal carcinoma in situ, DCIS, which is a diagnosis similar to Ms McCormack's, revealed that another case had also been misdiagnosed. This shows a 22% error rate for DCIS cases. The hospital has refused to confirm to "RTÉ Investigates" if the second patient has been told that she was misdiagnosed. We know that she is being treated but we do not know if she has been told about the misdiagnosis.

Nobody is saying that the health service can be run without human error but when a mistake is made there should be an apology and the relevant parties should be informed. The patient is at a disadvantage when an error occurs. Last night's programme showed a circling of the wagons. We saw the system come up against one woman on her own. Will the Taoiseach agree that there should be a legal duty of candour? Will the Taoiseach ensure that the full case load of the pathologist who had a 22% misdiagnosis rate for DCIS cases will be reviewed? Can the Taoiseach also confirm that the second woman who was misdiagnosed was informed by St. James’s Hospital of her misdiagnosis?

I thank Deputy O'Reilly. I did not have a chance to watch the RTÉ "Prime Time" programme but I have read about Alison McCormack's case online over the last couple of days. I deeply regret the way in which she was treated by our health service, by St. James's Hospital and by members of my own profession. I offer her my sympathies. I thank her for her bravery in coming forward and in making her case public so that lessons can be learned and mistakes not repeated. I also wish her the very best in her recovery.

As Deputy O'Reilly has acknowledged, it is a very sad truth that as long as we have a health service that is run by people with the help of machines there will be human error and there will be machine error. This is the truth. The important thing, however, is that where errors occur they are admitted, that hospitals and clinicians are honest about their errors and that they are identified and minimised. In this case it appears that the patient in question was not informed that a misdiagnosis had occurred and this is wrong. There is a duty of candour to inform patients if a mistake has occurred. In order to reinforce this, just in the last few months the Oireachtas passed legislation to protect open disclosure. I appreciate that this law was not in place at the time but it is now in place. We now expect from our hospitals - from management and from clinicians - that they engage in the duty of candour and tell patients when mistakes have occurred. This House has passed that legislation in the past few month to protect open disclosure so that managers, doctors and other are not concerned that engaging in open disclosure could be used against them in court at a future point.

Duty of candour is not underpinned statutorily. I fully appreciate that the protections are there. When the Taoiseach was the Minister for Health he described the failure to adhere to a duty of candour and to disclose the relevant information as being "the equivalent of a hit and run." I agree with the Taoiseach in this regard, which is rare enough. This is exactly what happened to this one person on her own.

I asked the Taoiseach a very specific question about the other woman who had been misdiagnosed. I appreciate that the Taoiseach did not see the programme last night but I am aware that he will be fully briefed on the matter as it is one of the issues of the day. Will the Taoiseach please confirm that this woman has been informed that she was misdiagnosed? This is important. Will the Taoiseach also confirm that he wants to see a full and comprehensive review of all the cases undertaken by this pathologist in 2010? It is not good enough that people do not have confidence in our health service. It is not good enough that they feel they are battling against the system. It is not good enough that the system circled the wagons. It is not good enough that the system gets permission from the Government to do exactly that. The Taoiseach needs to confirm that this woman has been told that she was misdiagnosed and he needs to confirm that the review will take place.

I am not in a position to speak on behalf of St. James's Hospital. It has its own legal personality and its own board. I understand that they issued a statement in the matter last night. I sincerely hope that the second patient has been informed that a misdiagnosis occurred in her case. I believe that if this has not been done it should be done. I am absolutely firm on that. I do not have access to individual patient information or patient details. Even if St. James's Hospital wanted to do so it is not allowed to give private patient information to me or to any politician. There are very good reasons for that.

The Minister for Health has advised me that the national cancer control programme and the Chief Medical Officer have been consulted on this issue and they are satisfied that there is no ongoing patient safety risk. It is important that we assure patients who are still attending St. James's Hospital for cancer treatment that there is no ongoing risk.