Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The package of supports announced last week has not filtered through to the victims. Stephen Teap was before the committee. No support has been provided to him since then. We had the announcement. We had the press release but the follow-up has been wanting, to say the least, and that is not acceptable. This needs to be about the victims - the women and their families. Assurances from the Tánaiste that the Government is appointing people within the HSE to liaise with them one week on are simply not good enough.

I have asked the Tánaiste about information that does not represent a new request but that has already been promised. Are we going to see the cervical cancer audit of 2014 published? Are we going to see the documentation relating to the detection rates of the US laboratories published, as promised to the Joint Committee on Health two weeks ago? Will the Government publish the advice provided to the Taoiseach in respect of his U-turn on mandatory non-disclosure in 2016 as well as the advice provided in 2017 that encouraged the Government to withdraw the provision from the legislation that was passing through the House?

This is my final point. After eight days of searching for documentation, two individuals who do not have time on their hands were given assurances that the documentation would be in Limerick. Then, they were told that the documentation would not be provided to them and they were escorted off the facility. This is not the compassionate approach those of us in the House want to see in dealing with victims of this scandal. The Tánaiste should not tolerate it. The Government needs to take a hold and get a grip on this situation.

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