Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I realise today's Brexit events are understandably overshadowing everything else. However, today women at the centre of the CervicalCheck controversy and their families still find themselves fighting against the HSE and the State just to get access to their own medical information. They are living in fear, with some in the midst of very aggressive forms of cancer treatment. Others are still dealing with side effects of those treatments. These people should not have to battle for anything else right now; their entire focus should be on staying as well as possible. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

I draw attention to the contradictions that exist between the information being put forward by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health, HSE officials and CervicalCheck and the lived reality for the involved women and their families. Yesterday I spoke to Mr. Cian O'Carroll, the solicitor representing many of the impacted women, and he informed me he is still chasing slides from as far back as April or May. The HSE put a protocol in place in August, following which Mr. O'Carroll engaged with staff to try to improve it. However, since 10 September, when he provided suggested improvements, he has had no engagement with the HSE. That is more than two months ago.

The Taoiseach agreed with me in the Chamber last week that there should be no further or undue delays. Before that, he told the House that no woman should have to go to court. However, I am told there will be an appeal to the High Court to force the release of the slides for these women and their families. They will be put through unnecessary torture as a result. Seven women from the 221+ group have come to me indicating they are waiting an inordinate time for access to the slides, yet this jars with what HSE representatives told the Committee of Public Accounts last week. They said the average waiting time for women who requested the slides was 22 days and the HSE had put a specific unit in place to deal with the matter. These women have said that is not the reality.

I understand the national screening service ordered Quest Diagnostics to stop releasing slides in August. I also understand that where previously it was the norm to include the accompanying laboratory reports with slides, they are not now being released. It is clear from the experiences related to me that the HSE has become far more focused on legal issues and less focused on patients affected by this matter. The goalposts are moving for these women and their families. We cannot continue to treat them like this. Will the Tánaiste outline the process and timeline whereby these women will be given access to the slides and associated reports?

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