Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join all of my colleagues in congratulating the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and wish him well at this time.

With reference to the previous discussion, we need to provide reassurance - to use the Tánaiste's word - on two issues, the first of which is the backlog. Will the Government publish the medical advice the Minister for Health was given before he took the decision to proceed on the smear test issue? The second issue is that the Tánaiste keeps saying it is a matter for the laboratories. The Government took the decision to progress the expansion of the screening programme without providing resources for the laboratories. Does it intend to introduce a Supplementary Estimate to provide the necessary resources, once and for all, to address the backlog, as well as the second issue?

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