Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The NCSS is independent of the HSE. It is a stand-alone body and reports to the Department and the Minister for Health and Children. I have confidence in the screening service and Deputies have attested to their experiences of BreastCheck, which is acknowledged domestically and internationally to have been rolled out in a most appropriate fashion. When I asked the NCSS to roll out a cervical screening programme I did not tell it how to do it. I have confidence in its capacity to make those decisions. As Minister for Health and Children, I make the policy and allow those with expertise to implement it at clinical level or at other levels.

Deputy Higgins asked why we decided on 25,000 as a minimum throughput and a ten day turnaround. We did so because these are the international standards. We will not have quality assurance and the women of Ireland will not have the best possible cervical screening standard unless we follow international best practice, as followed in the UK and several other countries that have introduced effective screening programmes and reduced mortality from cervical cancer by 80%. In our case we could reduce it by up to 60 women per year out of 75. I refer the Deputy to page 163 of the European Standard. I did not invent this, I provided the money and asked the experts to put a cervical screening programme into effect for women affected, aged between 25 and 60, as quickly as possible. Furthermore, there was a two-stage tender process that was robust and transparent. They did not have to go to tender.

See this speech in context