Mr. Jim Breslin:

They would be the very first people to have to respond to anything that happens in the health service. Officials within the Department engage with the HSE on issues in the health service all the time. They probe those issues and ask the HSE what are the issues. In this case, it is a positive issue. It is something that CervicalCheck has decided to do for quality assurance purposes and CervicalCheck also decided to inform the women. It is a positive issue. There is the potential in that for adverse publicity as it rolls out, but there is potential risk in many things that happen in the health service.

The approach in that situation is to discuss the matter with the HSE and ask about the risks that have been identified. The HSE will outline the risks it has identified. The Department will ask how to manage them. The HSE will explain how it intends to manage them and the Department officials will ask how they will know whether it is working. If it is not working, they will hear and see people and the reaction of those people. Those responsible will explain what they will do in that situation and an early warning system is then put in place. It is regularly updated. Let us consider the documentation. By and large, the documentation is suggesting it is progressing well.