Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Brien for providing me with the opportunity to do that. The first thing it is worth saying is that I accept that two thirds of the backlog is made up of out-of-cycle smears where women decided, as we went through the process, in consultation with their GP for reassurance, to seek another smear test. One third, or one in three, of those is made up of new women entering the screening programme. I say that as it is a positive development. We talked about the way our screening programme can save lives. The fact that one in three of the backlog are new women who, after all this discussion about screening, decided to get screened and, for the first time ever, had a smear test is welcome. We see that in other countries too. They saw it in the UK at the time of Jade Goody's passing when there was a lot of discussion about it. It is worth remembering that many new women came forward and, it is hoped, some good will come of that.

The Deputy is right. What are we going to do now? We have to find extra capacity. That is not something we have been saying today or yesterday. It is something on which the HSE has been working tirelessly, and I singled out Damien McCallion for leading that effort. Until very recently, the HSE had not been able to say it had identified potential extra capacity. That changed last week when it was able to tell this committee and me that it has identified potential extra capacity. That does not mean we are over the line, and I do not wish to suggest that. This week, it is engaging with that potential extra capacity looking at quality assurance and all the other negotiations it has to do. If we can get that over the line, and I can only say "if" today, my understanding from talking to the HSE is that we will see a significant reduction in the backlog over the summer months. I would hope that if the extra capacity comes on stream, by the time we get to the end of the summer months, the end of August or so, the backlog will largely have been dealt with. I will be back to this committee when I have more news on that, or the HSE will be back to it, but I expect we will know one way or the other the direction of travel in that regard in the next couple of weeks.