Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you for organising this exchange of views today. We have important decisions to make today. The parents in the gallery are welcome. I have met a number of parents of sick children, sick young girls. I acknowledge the presence of Dr. Colette Bonner, Dr. Kevin Kelleher and others. I have worked previously with Dr. Bonner and Dr. Kelleher.

I am at this meeting and I have deliberately missed a vote because I am very concerned about the health of young girls. I have a 14-year-old daughter who has had the vaccine. Thank God, there have not been any adverse effects. What we do not need is a collision course between the Department of Health, the HSE and parents.

We have two realities, as I see it. First, a patient information leaflet was not disseminated properly. Parents were not properly informed. That leads me to believe that there was in some sense a cover-up. Why was the correct patient information leaflet not disseminated? The second reality is that we have sick young girls who are unable to go to school or a debutante ball or socialise at all. Some are isolated, sleep up to 20 hours per day and are in terrible pain. I know of one child who has had seven operations for severe abdominal pain. I accept what Dr. Bonner said and that we are not proving cause and effect. However, some of the facts hold the key. All of this has come on since these girls received the HPV vaccine.

I have several questions for the Department of Health. What is the hunch of the department officials? I am deliberately using the word "hunch," because the Department has not investigated these girls. What is the hunch of the Department officials about what is going on with these young girls? My second question-----