Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that the Deputy has said this is too serious an issue to play party or personality politics with it. I appreciate the responsible way in which he and his party, along with most Members of the House, are approaching this sensitive matter. I want to work with all people in government and the Opposition in getting answers. I fully endorse the idea that this cannot be an open-ended process or a process that goes on for years. As the Irish Cancer Society indicated to me today, there are some women who have cancer who will be very sick and want answers. We must be conscious of another process, the independent clinical review, which should get under way forthwith. I am not suggesting the Deputy is saying we do not consider this. That review will mean that every woman affected by this can have an appointment with a team of experts brought in internationally, a liaison nurse and the Irish Cancer Society feeding into how best to do that. Those women should be able to find out their own facts and medical detail to know their cases were reviewed.

There is a real issue here and there is a reason I declared I did not have confidence in the management of CervicalCheck. The Deputy can imagine how that went down in the system but I could not say anything else. How could I have confidence when the information available to me, the Deputy and the public has been dripping out? That is not acceptable. It is too serious an issue. There is a reason I did not have confidence in the management, and notwithstanding the excellent work Dr. Flannelly did in many ways, there is a reason it was appropriate for her to step aside.

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