Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a timeline of making the decision, communicating it, and taking the memo to Cabinet on 1 May. On the last occasion I asked the Minister whether, prior to taking that decision, anybody advised him against it or warned of any potential problems. The Minister answered, "not to my recollection". I said, "not one voice" and the Minister said, "not to my recollection". That is becoming less credible as time moves on. It does appear there were communications to the Department from CervicalCheck. Tony O'Brien's evidence and his word are that he asked the Minister to walk it back or pull back from that decision. It is not just that there was one instance of advice that this could go wrong or could have negative consequences for the programme; there were multiple voices. I believe the Minister heard those voices before the Cabinet memo of 1 May. That still does not answer the question as to why, after making that decision, the Minister consulted with CervicalCheck basically directing it that this was his decision, without looking at the capacity or the resources. It is pretty obvious even for an ordinary citizen who is not the Minister for Health that making an offer of this nature is going to increase demand. That is pretty obvious.