Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last May in the wake of the CervicalCheck scandal many assurances were given to women. In what was a difficult time for women and women's healthcare in the State one of the appropriate and sensible responses by the Minister for Health was the offer of a free repeat smear for those women who were concerned.

It was what many people had been calling for at the time. It was generally assumed that the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, had this under control and that he was liaising with GPs and with the laboratories to ensure the tests would be carried out swiftly and the results returned within the normal timeframe. What we did not expect was that nothing would be done.

Last May, when the Minister announced this response, GPs told us that they had not been consulted on the provision of additional tests. It should have been clear then that different responses were being announced, but that no actual strategy or planning had gone into them.

Announcements are becoming the hallmark of this Government; delivery, on the other hand, is often sadly lacking. Furthermore, the Minister did not even plan for how to categorise the delivery of additional smear tests so that high-risk tests, those who were due for scheduled tests and those attending for a re-test were separated. What was, and still is, a good idea has been completely mismanaged to the point that it is having the reverse effect of what was the intention.

The measure was supposed to assure women, but now we have women articulating further worry and discomfort over the length of time they are waiting for the results of their tests. Women were told that they would have the results in six to eight weeks, but they have now been left waiting for up to 18 weeks because the laboratories cannot deal with the additional volume of tests being sent to them. That is having the knock-on effect of samples expiring because the laboratory cannot process them quickly enough. That is creating a cyclical effect where samples are being taken and then expiring because of the increased waiting times due to the volume of tests taken, and it is being repeated again and again.

Not being able to plan and resource services is the inevitable consequence of outsourcing. If we do not tackle the issues around a lack of human resources at the laboratories to deal with the backlog, these issues will continue and women will not get the peace of mind they need.

The Minister, Deputy Harris, has said that this serious issue is a priority, so what is being done address it? Can we, and the women affected, be given a realistic timeframe for when these issues will be dealt with because there are people who are worried? Has the Tánaiste a realistic plan and a timeframe to repatriate testing to this State? Will he initiate a publicity campaign to advise women of the delays and reassure them? Will he use that campaign to highlight the realistic timeframe for repeat tests?

We know that screening saves lives. I have said that many times, but as a user of the service I and other users must have confidence in that service. Being honest with women has to be central to this and it must involve being honest about the timeframes.

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