Dr. Stephanie O'Keeffe:

There are lessons relating to communications not just within the system but also communications when something like this emerges. It is a sad reality that the very thing that the CervicalCheck programme was trying to prevent actually was something that happened that was far worse and more catastrophic, particularly for the individuals who were impacted. It is difficult for the people involved in terms of what they intended and what actually happened in the end. It is very important in that context for the public and, most importantly, for the women impacted to understand how sorry we are about all of that. That is really important.

Also, a broader, mature conversation needs to happen around the area of open disclosure and situations such as whether one discloses if somebody has passed away. As Dr. Holohan said, the Medical Council guidelines are that one does not do that. The country needs to have that conversation because sometimes people might say: "I would have preferred not to have had that information". There probably needs to be a broader debate about that and also with regard to screening programmes more generally. No screening programme is 100% effective and there probably needs to be broader communications in that regard.