Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The second point to note is that HPV vaccination is not and cannot be a replacement for routine cervical screening. We know that countries that have organised cervical cancer screening programmes have substantially reduced both the number of new cases and deaths from cervical cancer. The Government's investment of €35 million in this programme demonstrates our commitment to a national screening programme. Far from the Opposition having a monopoly on empathy for children and young women, as they would purport to do in some of their contributions, that is not the case. We are facing very difficult times and will be facing tough economic times next year.

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