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

I said yesterday that I do not believe it is right for any politician or party leader to seek to appoint him or herself as the spokesperson for all the people affected, whether it is the 209 women who are part of this audit, their families or the many hundreds of thousands of women who are concerned about the accuracy of their smear tests. I do not think it is right for any politician to appoint him or herself as the sole spokesperson for all these people. I have been in contact with some of them too. They have different views but many concerns and the main thing they want is answers. They want the truth, which is why we have established a scoping inquiry in order that we can get as many answers as quickly as possible for the women affected and their families. We will move on to a statutory commission of investigation after that to answer any unanswered questions. We have gone for a scoping inquiry in order that we can get answers quickly. I appeal to Deputy McDonald and all Members of this House to avoid saying things that may not be factually correct or putting out misinformation. It is not fair to the 209 women who were subject to this audit to have additional fears and concerns. They have enough to worry about as it is without misinformation being propagated.

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