I’m not reacting to O’brien’s ‘frightened little boy’ jibe
Simon Harris Tony O’brien SIMON Harris yesterday said he refused to engage in the “personalised attacks” after he was branded a “frightened little boy”.
Former HSE chief Tony O’brien broke his silence on the Cervicalcheck scandal to launch a withering assault on the Health Minister.
He also called the Public Accounts Committee, which hauled him in for questioning over the fiasco, a “kangaroo court”.
Mr O’brien, who quit in May over the debacle, said Mr Harris mishandled the affair from the moment it began last April.
That’s when cancer victimturned-campaigner Vicky Phelan spoke out about her €2.5million High Court settlement after a US lab misread her smear test.
He told the Sunday Business Post said: “I would have hoped he’d have been able to show more courage in the face of a difficult political and media onslaught.” Mr O’brien also criticised Mr Harris for announcing in the media that he had lost confidence in Cervicalcheck management.
He said: “If a minister doesn’t have confidence in an individual, there are ways and means for that to be expressed and the media isn’t one of them.”
But Mr Harris said the women affected by the scandal remain the Government’s priority.
A spokeswoman added: “The Cervicalcheck situation was a very difficult time for women. They felt let down. They were and are the minister’s priority.”
“Mr O’brien took the decision to step down. The minister believes that was the right decision.”
Yesterday Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan defended his Cabinet colleague against Mr O’brien’s “personal attack’ and said the comments were “totally out of order”.