Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move to the backlog of 78,000. Obviously, it is a source of serious concern for women around Ireland who are facing the delays. In his report Dr. Scally said that for every 1,000 tests, 15 women would be identified as having precancerous abnormalities. A backlog of 78,000 suggests approximately 1,200 women within that cohort will be or have been identified as having precancerous abnormalities and either have not yet been tested or have been and have not yet received the results of the tests.

I will ask two questions about the delays. My understanding is they differ throughout the country. There may be different priorities for different cohorts. Perhaps women who are at higher risk are identified and fast-tracked. My first question is as follows. Will the delegates tell the committee about the level of the delays? Where are things going well? Where are they not going well? Are there delays of six months or more?

Critically, my second question is, given that approximately 1,200 women within this backlog are likely to be identified as having pre-cancerous abnormalities, is there any clinical risk associated with, say, a woman who has been identified as having an abnormality, be it low-grade or high-grade, and a potential wait of six months for her doctor and herself to get those results?