Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have two or three very short questions, the first of which is on the opening statement by Ms Anna Cannon. I would like the doctors to comment on it. Ms Cannon's submission states, "The truth is that our girls [most girls, I believe] will still require ongoing and regular pap smear tests, as protection from the HPV vaccine has not been shown to last longer than 8 years." As a non-medical person, I am asking why we are giving this vaccine to girls when they will have to have the smear test down the line. It would be picked up later if there was cancer, for example.