Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

Information about this programme is in the public domain. While children may not know about it, their mothers do. Mothers are the greatest pursuers of all that is good for their children and they will pursue this issue and will want to know why their children cannot get this vaccination. There is not one person in this House, or outside it, that has not been affected by cancer diagnoses or by the death of someone from cancer. We all know, including those who have been caught in time or cured, the stress of living in a house with a person who receives a cancer diagnosis. We know the outcomes could be so much better.

Mothers know this vaccine is available and that it could prevent their children going through the trauma of a cervical cancer diagnosis, treatment and, hopefully, cure. It will, in the event of a cure not being possible, prevent their children dying from cervical cancer. We are all aware there are other cancers, the outcomes of which are not great and the treatment for which is harrowing, but there is no vaccine to prevent them. There is available, however, a vaccine which will prevent cervical cancer and provide our children with hope of a better future.

I plead with the Minister to reverse this decision. The cost of implementing this programme will not be €14 million. My information is that doctors who administer the vaccine in a private capacity will do so for €115 per dose. The Minister and I know that families who have the wherewithal and the resources will ensure their children get this vaccination. This will create a two-tier system. We will have a cohort of young women who will be vaccinated because their parents can afford it and another cohort of young women whose parents cannot afford it. We should not allow this to happen. These children may encounter similar problems later in life when it comes to housing, third level education and employment. We should not allow this to happen when we can prevent it. It is our job to ensure all children are treated equally.

I believe this particular scheme could be introduced at a far lower cost than that stated by the Health Service Executive. I do not blame the HSE for saying it will cost more than we can afford. At the end of the day, the €16 million saved as a result of not implementing this programme can be spent by it somewhere else and we will have no control over this. It is what the HSE did in the disability and mental health areas. It will spend that money wherever it sees fit and neither the Minister nor I will have control over it.

What we do have control over is whether this programme is introduced. It is a programme that will benefit all of us. This is not only about death but about harrowing experiences.

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