FINE GAEL and Labour will renew their calls for the resignation of Mary Harney or Micheál Martin during a debate in the Dáil next Wednesday following the three reports into breast cancer misdiagnosis at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.
The Opposition parties yesterday indicated they will intensify efforts to force the resignation of Minister for Health Mary Harney, or of her predecessor, Minister for Enterprise Michéal Martin, during Leaders' Questions and during the debate on the three reports which were published on Wednesday.
Mr Martin reacted angrily to Opposition criticism, describing it as "outrageous" and accusing them of showing "some neck" in calling for him to quit.
He was drawn into the controversy on Thursday when it emerged that a letter was sent to him in 2002 warning him of the problems facing cancer services at Portlaoise hospital.
The letter, from consultant surgeon Peter Naughton, has since gone missing - and was not uncovered during a further search in the Department of Health yesterday.
Mr Martin also faced more questions about his role after details emerged of correspondence which showed that the midland health board had requested a breast cancer surgeon to be appointed in September 2000 - some two years before Mr Naughton wrote to the then health minister.
With the issue expected to dominate Dáil proceedings for a second week, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore directed their criticism at the role of the two Ministers over the past eight years.
Mr Kenny said nobody was prepared to accept political responsibility for the situation.
"When there is nobody in charge, there is nobody to blame and that's what they call a systems failure," he said. "But this system belongs to Minister [ Harney]. It's her system and her failure."
He also accused Mr Martin of passing the buck. "This Government has a feeling that accountability ends on the day of the election," he said.
Mr Gilmore called for Mr Ahern to dismiss Ms Harney or Mr Martin. He said the "appalling" events in Portlaoise had been flagged to both Ministers.
"I believe on this particular occasion the time has come for the Taoiseach to terminate the ministry of one of those Ministers," he said.
But Mr Martin rejected the calls, describing the assertions as outrageous. He did not clarify if he read the letter, but said the sequence of events made it clear that the issues raised in the letter were acted upon.
"I sanctioned three consultant posts: a surgeon, a radiologist with a special interest in breast care, and a histopathologist. They were sanctioned in September 2002," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Describing Mr Gilmore's call for his resignation as cynical, he continued: "He has some neck. I am really angry about this. I can remember the last local elections. I was up and down the country assuring communities that their hospitals would not close of doomsday scenarios created by Mr Gilmore and Mr Kenny."