Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I am aware of claims of an association between HPV vaccination and a number of conditions experienced by a group of young women. Anyone who is suffering ill health is eligible to seek medical attention and access appropriate health and social care services, irrespective of the cause of their symptoms. People are assessed for eligibility for medical cards, disability or carers allowance individually. The assessment takes into account their family income and individual needs rather than a specific diagnosis.

In particular, people who are suffering from the conditions raised by Deputy Ó Caoláin, complex regional pain syndrome and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, do not have to prove a particular cause of their symptoms to be eligible to receive treatment or access other appropriate services. Young women and their families should seek medical advice from their family doctor in the normal manner and be guided by this advice in accessing appropriate services including specialist opinion where necessary.

The HPV vaccine, which was introduced in 2010, protects girls from developing cervical cancer when they are adults. It is available free of charge from the HSE for all girls in the first year of secondary school. Gardasil is the vaccine used by the HSE in the school immunisation programme and more than 100,000 girls have received this vaccine since its introduction. While no medicine, including vaccines, is entirely without risk, the safety profile of Gardasil has been continuously monitored since it was first authorised, both nationally and at EU level. Each year in Ireland approximately 300 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine protects against two high-risk types of HPV that cause 73% of all cervical cancers.

It appears that some girls first suffered symptoms around the same time that they received the HPV vaccine, and, understandably, some parents have connected the vaccine to their daughters' conditions. However, the European Medicines Agency has recently completed a review of the vaccine. The review, in which the Health Products Regulatory Authority participated, specifically focused on two conditions, to which I have already referred, and found no evidence of a link between the vaccine and the conditions. I want to emphasise clearly the expert findings that the HPV vaccine is a safe vaccine, and encourage all parents to have their daughters vaccinated. This will reduce the numbers of deaths from cervical cancer, head and neck cancers and other cancers in years to come.

See this speech in context