James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

An important item of legislation in section B is the health information Bill. When will it be brought before the House? It is an important and integral part of any national screening or vaccination programme, such as the cervical vaccination, that we have a unique patient identifier. That is part of the Bill, and a lot of things have been held up as a consequence.

The Minister plans to start only a pilot programme on cervical vaccination, involving 21 schools out of more than 500. Would it not be better to wait until September to vaccinate first and second years, so that we get a good outcome?

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