Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. First, on behalf of this House, I recognise the significance of Emma Mhic Mhathúna's funeral passing this House and other significant institutions of the State yesterday. I hope that this House will be able to honour the legacy of an extraordinarily brave woman and ensure the truth is fully understood in regard to what happened to her and others so that we avoid making the mistakes made in the past again in the future. The Minister, Deputy Harris, and this Government are absolutely committed to doing that and I thank other parties in this House for supporting us in this work.

I refer to what Dr. Scally said yesterday but first I thank him for his continuing work and his continuing support to the Government and the Department of Health on this. I thank him for his appearance at the committee yesterday and for speaking on his excellent report, which I encourage everybody to read. The reality is that we have known for a long time that the numbers may increase after we get the report of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists report, which is currently under way. We know that the overall number being reviewed is higher than the CervicalCheck audit because there were a number of cases notified to the National Cancer Registry but not included in that audit. Members will recall that as soon as the Minister, Deputy Harris, learned this he informed the House straight away. Dr. Scally has done great work in setting out answers to questions. His recommendations have set the Government a goal, and we have adopted entirely those recommendations. The aim of eradicating cervical cancer through a programme of screening and vaccination is now what we want to implement. Dr. Scally is continuing his work and will continue to support the Government. He will independently oversee the implementation of many of his recommendations. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists work is under way, which is an independent, outside, expert review of smear tests and which will provide answers to some of the questions the Deputy is asking today. It is not appropriate to draw conclusions, however, without having the benefit of that report.

The Government is certainly not focusing on using labs for this purposes on the basis of cost. My understanding is that the cost of labs outside of Ireland is no less than the cost of labs used in Ireland in regard to assessing screening results.

I urge caution here because we have made mistakes in the past and jumped to conclusions. Let us wait until we get the detail of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, RCOG, report which will hopefully be available in early 2019. Let us continue to work with Dr. Scally to ensure that we provide the supports necessary and that we learn from the mistakes that Dr. Scally, to his credit, has uncovered.

See this speech in context