Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think there is a benefit of hindsight thing going on here. The Deputy must remember we were waiting for Dr. Scally's report to provide reassurance to the women of Ireland as to whether the programme was safe, if they needed to get new smears. There was considerable unease on the matter. Many Members of the Oireachtas, women and GPs recommended that we do this. I think it was the appropriate thing to do and many thousands of women got reassurance. As I told the Deputy yesterday in the Dáil and as I am sure will be saying later during the CervicalCheck debate in the Dáil, it certainly contributed in part - not exclusively - to the backlog we are dealing with today.

As GPs pointed out to the helpline, women who could afford the repeat smear test were always going to go and get it. There was an equity issue where women who could not afford it would have been left out.