The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, has said the sacking and reconstitution of the board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) following the resignation of its chairwoman is "not going to happen".
Fine Gael called for the move following the resignation of the chairwoman, Dr Patricia Barker, on Friday. Dr Barker's resignation letter was reportedly critical of other members of the board, who she claimed were not acting in the board's interests. Dr Barker has not issued a statement following her resignation.
The IBTS blamed Dr Barker's resignation on a long-running row over the proposed transfer of blood-testing services from Cork to Dublin.
However, it was also reported yesterday that Mr Martin and his advisers were warned by the IBTS as early as last December that the board was "split and divided". Asked to comment on this claim, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the Minister had had meetings with the blood board on "a whole range of issues" and that the fallout from the decision to centralise blood-testing services had "had an effect on the activities of the board".
The Fine Gael spokesman on health, Mr Gay Mitchell, yesterday called on Mr Martin to restore confidence in the IBTS by sacking the entire board and reconstructing it in a "more nationally representative form".
However, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said Mr Martin had stated this was "not going to happen".
Mr Martin said he regretted Dr Barker's decision to resign. She had given a lot of her time and effort in the public interest and this was appreciated.
Mr Mitchell said the turmoil in the IBTS was turning into a public scandal which threatened to further damage this essential service if it was not "comprehensively tackled".