Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not going to use my full six minutes, lest others think I am butting in on them. I have two questions, one of which I asked earlier in respect of document No. 11 which we received yesterday. On page 4 there is a reference to 317 cases as having been flagged for further review which focused on more than one area. It states:

In most (although not all) of these reviewed cases there may have been an opportunity for earlier intervention. This includes instances of pre-cancerous cell changes that were not detected, no referral or a delay in referral to colposcopy, and a delay in diagnosis or treatment.

Are these issues other than the cytology that are affecting the clinical treatment of women? Perhaps the delegates might speak about it.

My other question is addressed to Dr. Holohan. Will he expand on the advice he gave to the then Minister in 2015 that we should go for voluntary rather than mandatory disclosure?

I am not sure who would like to take those questions. It is really about further delays in diagnosis, other than those caused by false negatives.