Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I have one or two questions and then we will go to the members in order. Is that agreed? Agreed. My first question is on the offer of 28 April by the Minister of free repeat smear tests. We understand the climate at the time but I am more interested in the advice received by the Minister as to how wise the offer was. As the experts in the area, will the witnesses say who was advising the Minister before the offer was made? What discussions and consultations were held, specifically on the availability of resources? Clearly, we now have a backlog which can be traced in part to that announcement. What advice was the Minister given? From whom did he seek that advice? What information did he get and what resource provision was made in advance of the making of the announcement?