Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Yes, but I cannot judge and this is the only chance I have to ask questions. To be honest, that information should be at the top as the witnesses knew this issue had emerged in the press. The witness made some disparaging remarks about tests being done on the kitchen table. That is at odds with what Dr. Sam Coulter-Smith said. He is not an insignificant person as a former master of the Rotunda Hospital and he called the service it ran accredited and world class.

One cannot dismiss the fact that this was predicted by people ten years ago. In addition, they said it would be ten years before these problems would emerge. Some €20 per test multiplied by 3 million, which is €60 million, was paid to a private company which makes massive profits and has connections with Goldman Sachs. These people are in it for a reason, and it is not for patients. That was not purely the HSE's decision. The witness is correct that the Dáil voted for that, despite counter arguments at the time. The majority of parties, even if they ranted about it at the time, did not challenge it when they came into power. It is the issue of public services being starved of resources and then being privatised.

I have a question about the rate of testing. My understanding, and I am open to correction, is that the NHS guidelines are that 50 tests per day is the recommended best practice level. Quest Diagnostics was doing 90 to 100. I tried to calculate the figures by dividing 25,000 by 365, but presumably laboratories do not operate for 365 days a year. They might take weekends off, but I do not know. However, the rate in Quest Diagnostics must have been nearly twice what the NHS recommends.

A screener is only supposed to carry out a maximum of 5,000 per year. If there is pressure to make profit by getting as many tests carried out as possible these things are absolutely inevitable. Corners were cut in women's health at a time when the economy was going into recession. Again, political parties took that decision. Why did CervicalCheck downgrade, as I have read, from two deep checks to one deep check and one rapid check in 2011?