Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

You are correct. Mr. O'Brien alluded to that today. We need to know how that was known, who knew it and why they did not do something. I have asked the Secretary General, and in fairness, he acknowledged it this morning, to examine whether there is any evidence in the Department that the Department knew going back a number of years. I will ask him to comment on that. The Deputy asked an important question when he asked what proportion of that number of women could have been audited. The indication I have been given from the strategic incident management team is that it is quite a small proportion. That does not make it right. However, many women, perhaps the overwhelming majority, may not have had a relevant screening history for a variety of reasons.