Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Coffey for coming in. He has large shoes to fill and has done very well. I am aware of how well he has done through a neighbour of mine. He has done amazing work in dealing with massive tragedy for people within his field, for friends and the greater community.

To focus in on the human papilloma virus, HPV, vaccine specifically, one of the things I felt got most traction from a public interest point of view was when the committee discussed the impact of the fall-off in vaccinations of girls who are eight years old now. We were able to extrapolate the data and it is a very powerful message to send to normal people going about their daily business. Does Dr. Coffey agree that it is the way we should be going? If we do not vaccinate correctly, many girls who are eight years old and who are walking around in flowery skirts will be dead by the time they are 40. These are shock tactics but it is so serious that an image should be created of girls or boys walking around and the impact of not taking up the vaccine. Is it the sort of methodology we should be using to inform people of the impacts? There is a great deal of misinformation out there.

Another thing that occurred to me in my work as a community pharmacist is the importance of GPs in this area. I did not realise that many people do not have GPs. They go to random doctors here, there and everywhere and perhaps to consultants if they are having babies. There is no contact with the GP unless they go private. Sometimes diagnoses of cervical cancer and things of that nature can just fall between two stools. I have seen it with people who are well educated and from very good socio-economic backgrounds but who do not understand the importance of having the basic level of intervention in the community. The importance of having a core person in charge of one's health care is something that needs to be highlighted. The GP is the person best placed to do that in the primary care setting. What are Dr. Coffey's views on that? How can we drive the message home? Some of us leave it to our 30s to have children and we throw them out every couple of years. That means some of us miss smear tests because we are trying to get pregnant and do not want to have a smear test. I have seen cases of cervical cancer being diagnosed when the person has gone eight years without a smear test. Cervical cancer is totally preventable and treatable. On those two issues, is there anything the committee or the Department can do to try to offset some of the effects?