Sir, In her profile of Mary Harney TD (April 29th) Geraldine Kennedy wrote that "her (Mary Harney's) political judgment is sometimes faulty, frequently short term," and referred to Mary Harney's call for the closure and reconstitution of the BTSB.
There was nothing "short term" about Mary Harney's call for a fresh new start for the BTSB. In fact, as far back as December 15th, I called for such a move, on behalf of my party, stating that public confidence in the BTSB has been irreparably shattered by the revelations of the past few years. Our position was echoed in the Report of the Hepatitis C Tribunal, which recommended that the Blood Board be reconstituted under the auspices of St James Hospital, a recommendation which Minister Noonan accepted at the time, but has yet to act on.
Geraldine Kennedy also referred to Mary Harney's position on the "water charges controversy", as further evidence of shorttermism. In recent days, however, we have seen the EU Commission confirm that this Government's plans to abolish water charges may well be contrary to EU policy, and may put future cohesion funds in jeopardy. In fact, far from being "short term", Mary Harney is one of the most far seeing politicians in this generation. Yours, etc.
Spokesperson on Health,
Progressive Democrats.
Seanad Eireann,