Dr. Lorraine Doherty:

I will try to clarify the issue around screening tests and private tests. In Ireland, every woman within the eligible age group is entitled to a free cervical screening test. We maintain a register for that purpose and women are called regularly for their screening tests. All those tests are processed and if they are showing a result that requires referral to colposcopy, we have a contract with the colposcopy units around Ireland to provide that service. However, if a woman makes a decision to go to her GP and have an independent private smear, we have no knowledge of that individual. That woman does not appear on our records and that result does not come into our system so we do not know about these women. When we wrote to the clinics about the colposcopy services, we were highlighting the fact that we have women who are part of the screening programme, for whom we have a contract with the colposcopy services to provide colposcopy, and we reminded the colposcopy units that they needed to prioritise these women to deliver that particular service. All women who have a smear test done, irrespective of whether it is private or public, and who require colposcopy on the basis of clinical need, should have access to that service.