Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I think the committee would consider that if it helped to speed the process up.

I have been approached by a number of women who are not part of the 221+ group but are in exactly the same category. For different reasons, they are in a different cohort. They are part of the cancer registry cohort which comes across. They are essentially in the same category as the 221+ women. I have asked the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, about this and I want the Department to look at criteria in order to bring them in so that they will fit under the same scheme as the 221+ women as to the allowances they receive, such as medical cards, potential access, if necessary, to drugs, etc. A way will have to be found because it is not fair. They come under the cancer registry cohort and they have been let down in a similar way, it is just that they have come through a different channel. We are not talking about a huge number here but a very small number. I have already given cases to the Minister, and I gave him one particular case recently. I am asking the Department to consider this because these women deserve the same opportunities as those who happen to come in under the 221+.

When it comes to the provision of the women's slides and the delays in returning the slides to them, there has always been a problem here. The timelines have kept moving. What is the status of that now and of those who are still suffering long delays? In some cases, the slides came back relatively quickly. Why is there such a differentiation between some women getting them back quickly and some others not? Why is this continuing?