Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputies Ring, Clune, McEntee, Varadkar, Crawford and Kehoe.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. On 5 August last, the Minister for Health and Children said:

I accept the expert advice that the introduction of a universal, high uptake vaccination programme for young girls, in conjunction with population based cervical screening, could significantly reduce overall cervical cancer rates. I intend to seek Government approval for the programme and for the required funding in the autumn, based on the implementation of a plan that can be shown to be cost effective in terms of delivery costs and uptake rates.

Today the Government and the Minister claim that to agree with the foregoing and disagree with the removal of the Minister's proposal is emotional blackmail. We are agreeing with what the HIQA said to the Minister and what she believed, and probably still believes, that this is a vital issue in dealing with cervical cancer. Now we are accused of emotional blackmail.

I agree with Deputy McDaid — to withdraw the vaccination is a death sentence. That is what Deputy McDaid, an eminent physician, said about this. It is unconscionable that the Minister would withdraw a life saving programme for minimal savings. Cervical cancer is one of the few cancers whose cause is known. We know how to prevent it and a vaccination is available that will protect our children from it. There are approximately 240 new cases of cervical cancer every year, with approximately 100 women dying of the disease annually. The HPV vaccination is a life saving vaccine that could cause a 65% reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer and a 56% reduction in the number of deaths from the disease.

The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, report published three months ago advised the Minister that it would cost €9.7 million to administer the plan to vaccinate 12 year old girls. The cost of the electronic voting machines would cover this programme for six years. The vaccine can save our mothers, sisters and daughters from a cancer that needlessly claims many lives each year. It is simply unbelievable that the Minister cannot find the €10 million from a budget of €16 billion.

The Minister claims the withdrawal of the vaccine is the result of a choice between it and cervical cancer screening and other important cancer services. That is not the case. It is a choice between the vaccine and bonuses for the bosses, the bulging bureaucracy and cash for consultancy services. The Government found €7.96 million to spend on consultancy services for PPARS, €10 million on special advisers, press officers and constituency staff, €1.4 million for bonuses and €1 million on consultants to transform the HSE, but it cannot find €10 million to introduce this life saving vaccine.

The introduction of the vaccine is also a cost saving measure in that it will reduce the burden on hospital services in the long term. The Government has rowed back on its commitment. The recent development of a cervical cancer vaccine opens the possibility of effectively ending cervical cancer within a few generations. We believe it should be available as a universal public health entitlement, as recommended by experts. I urge the Minister to reconsider her decision to cancel this programme.

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