Mr. Patrick Lynch:

The review itself was not a threat; it was the information contained in the review on what had happened previously that was important for the women to know. The focus for us this week has primarily been on making sure the women who had a review were made aware of the fact that a review was undertaken and the outcome in their cases. That is just a basic requirement in respect of the openness of the health system and the responsibility to the women of those of us working in it. The second priority was to a very large cohort of women and their families right across Ireland who were concerned about cervical screening and their own health.

There will be time. All of these things will be looked at because we want to improve the system and ensure we learn from what happened so it will not happen again.