Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

On the Scally report, most parties agreed to the scoping inquiry model on the grounds that this was likely to be the fastest way of getting to the facts of the situation. People want the facts relating to the cytology labs, information related to matters such as the tendering process, the nature of the contracts, the accuracy rates and whether one laboratory might have a higher than average rate of false negatives. Those basic facts from which everything else flows need to be put into the public arena The Taoiseach himself drew a distinction between what he called negligent and innocent false negatives. That is a very important point in respect of how we proceed.

It is worrying that the report published yesterday talks about that area as being in the fourth module of the exercise which Dr. Scally is undertaking. Surely that information should be produced first because in its absence, the women affected are left in the dark. They do not know whether their case is as the result of negligence or not. Will the Taoiseach consider discussing that with Dr. Scally and seeking that factual information and the data to be made available as early as possible?

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