Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My question is on the communications system between the State Claims Agency and everyone in the HSE. It appears that the State Claims Agency may have been aware of the seriousness of this issue but did not communicate it to people working on the front line. In the current structure, a claim comes in against a medical consultant in a hospital and is passed on to the State Claims Agency. There may be some consultation initially but my information is that the next communication from the State Claims Agency is when the matter comes up for hearing in court. There does not appear to be communication in the intervening period and the seriousness of a claim does not appear to be conveyed back to people on the front line. Are these current structures being reviewed? It is extremely important, especially where there is a series of claims.

My next question is on the general public's understanding of the cervical screening process. There seem to be different views on how accurate and comprehensive the process is. It does not, for example, identify certain cancers. Is anything being put in place to get more detailed information out there to the general public about the programme, what it can identify and what it cannot identify? Some people seem to believe that once they have smear tests, they have the all-clear for the future.