Dr. Colm Henry:

I became aware of Dr. Flannelly's advice last night when I received her statement.

Like most people I became aware of the announcement of the out-of-hours smear when it was announced publicly. As a doctor, I understand screening and its rationale, the balance between risks and benefits and that the addition of out-of-cycle smears tilts the relative worth or value of the screening programme in one direction more than another. I also recall significant public anxiety at the time. When we set up our phone line around the same time, we were inundated with calls and could not keep up. GPs were inundated with inquiries from women who were anxious about screening. There was a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding, reflected not only in women's engagements with their GPs and calls to helplines but also in reporting and at the political level. I understand screening and the justification for in-cycle and out-of-cycle smears and what that means. However, when looking back it is reasonable to judge any decisions in the context of the time, that is, the great anxiety that prevailed among women in Ireland and the misinformation and misunderstanding.