Martin is sorry for Lawlor and says voters must decide fate

The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, has said he is personally sorry to see Mr Liam Lawlor being jailed, and believes continued tenure of his Dail seat is a matter for the TD and his constituents in Dublin West.

"I am always wary of people trying to tell other people who should be their representative," the Minister said in Galway yesterday. "You go back 100 years and there were people in jail for different reasons, albeit for causes which at the time society thought were horrible and obnoxious, yet those people in jail had a very fundamental part to play in the emerging democracy."

The Minister said it was "very regrettable to have to find oneself in jail", and it represented a low point in a person's life, irrespective of class or creed.

"On a personal level, I do feel very sorry for him," the Minister said, adding that he believed Mr Lawlor could have handled the situation "differently or better". If the TD had co-operated with the Flood tribunal, "we may not be where we are today", he said.

Asked if he thought Mr Lawlor should resign as public representative, the Minister said this was a matter for the TD himself, and for his constituents who had elected him to serve for the duration of this Dail.

"I am of a view that in a democracy it really is up to the people to decide who their elected representative is. So I think we just have to stand back and be careful."

The Minister, who was in Galway to open the £25 million first-phase development at University College Hospital, Galway, said he did not think the affair had damaged the Taoiseach's leadership of Fianna Fail or the party in general.

"The overall situation is damaging for politics generally," he said, but the Taoiseach had given a clear lead in terms of reform. There was very strong, unanimous support for Mr Ahern within the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party, he emphasised.

Breast cancer treatment services would be retained at Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, but the Government was committed to establishing national centres of excellence for such treatment, the Minister said. He said it was made clear at the end of last year that the breast cancer service would not be withdrawn from the Mayo hospital.

However, the Government was committed to setting up seven regional centres of excellence. The National Cancer Forum had recommended establishing 13 centres, and the Budget had provided funding for seven, he said.