Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

In 1997 the then Minister for Health decided to set up a cervical screening programme and in 2000 a pilot scheme was introduced in Limerick. Does the Minister accept Irish women are dying at a rate twice the European average from cervical cancer? Our cervical cancer rate is higher than the UK even though when the programme was proposed in 1997 our rate was half that of the UK. Does she accept that in the past ten years little or nothing has been done in this regard? Could she be realistic about what will happen in the future given that a patient registration scheme is not in place and she does not know how much that would cost? The Minister referred to an additional allocation of €5 million but I do not know where that money will go. The HSE is still working on a report on laboratory capacity. When will that be presented, given that it will take another year at least if there is a need to build capacity?

It is ten years since the Minister for Health decided to set up this programme and the cervical cancer rate among Irish women has dramatically increased during that decade but nothing has been done to address it. Smear tests were sent to the US during 2006, which means capacity is a problem in our system, particularly when women must wait six months for test results. Will the Minister be realistic in outlining how long it will take to implement a cervical cancer screening programme? It is amazing that the rate of cervical cancer among Irish women exceeds that in the UK, given it was half that in 1997. That is the reason we must move quickly on this. Nothing the Minister said in her reply gives me confidence that she understands how far behind we are and the serious consequences involved, especially in protecting women who are most at risk.

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