Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Breslin stated earlier, "I believe a reasonable approach was taken by the Department at the time based upon the information available to it." The Department was told an audit was taking place, it was positive and it was international best practice. The Department was told the clinicians were being told, which was also positive and good practice. The Department was also told that CervicalCheck or the HSE was essentially opting out of open disclosure. In the documentation provided, it states that while CervicalCheck "supports the principles of open disclosure, it is recognised that there are limitations to its universal implementation". It goes on to elaborate on that and provide various opt-outs to clinicians if they believe it is not in the best interests of women or if the woman is deceased. Pro formaletters are provided to that end.

The policy of open disclosure was in place from 2013. Dr. Holohan stated that he does not regard open disclosure as optional. The HSE told the Department explicitly that it was opting out of full open disclosure. Does the witness believe the Department, in that sense, was correct in not interrogating that opt-out further?