I can understand the ire of the health minister. He was left in the dark about the fact that the Prime Minister was going to announce a national breast screening programme in his budget speech.

Instead of having it out with his Prime Minister, the minister under the name of “the ministry of health” attacked me thus: “it was to say the least presumptuous if not outright arrogant of her to expect the minister to divulge any measures contemplated in the budget simply because she was taking part in a programme on breast screening”.

Whoever followed the television programme on which I was discussing the breast-screening issue with the minister, knows that the latter said that we do not yet have the resources to start a national breast screening programme.

Indeed the government has not even started a more limited programme for women at high risk, a programme which Labour is proposing in its policy document on women’s health.

Dr Deguara reiterated this in a public speech he made four days before the budget: “...We still as yet lack other vital human resources that would enable us to embark on a national breast screening programme. These human resources are in short supply but in great demand all over Europe. It would be amateurish having us believe that the only restricting factors for them to come to render services locally are purely financial. Again the shortage of dedicated breast surgeons, invasive radiologists, pathologist and other professionals all essential for a quality service have (sic) yet to be overcome.”

On budget day the Prime Minister announced that next year we will have a national breast screening programme. This, when the minister had been saying that we don’t have the resources for such a programme.

The day after this announcement was made, the head of the oncology department declared that he did not know that the government intended to launch a national breast screening programme… “As a very minimum we need to have the level of expertise both in terms of quantity and quality before we even consider this. I’m not aware that we have reached this point yet.”

Does any of this imply that I expected the minister to divulge any budget measure on TV simply because I was on the programme? On the contrary it shows that the minister was not even aware of the measure. And if he wasn’t aware of it, how can I expect him to disclose the pledge? Unless Dr Deguara can tell people what does not know.

It is not the first time that Dr Deguara is expressing this strange logic. When the going got tough at Mater Dei Hospital, the Prime Minister handed the job to the more appreciated junior minister Tonio Fenech. So the minister should learn how to be strong with who is sidelining him, not with those observing and commenting on him being sidelined.

Considering that the PM did not show sufficient trust in Dr Deguara to allow him to deal with all Mater Dei matters single-handedly (perhaps he does not have a pair of strong hands like Dr Gonzi), I am not quite sure whether I am answering Dr Deguara or Mr Tonio Fenech – or perhaps both together.

Helena Dalli MP

Marsaskala