Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government announced that the new HPV test - I may have inadvertently called it the "HPV vaccine" earlier - would be available last September, and that the programme relating to it would eventually replace the current programme. Unfortunately, this target was missed and it was then set for January. However, January has come and gone and it has not been announced. There does not appear to be any alternative date yet for the test or the new programme to be available. At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Health this morning, officials stated that the delay in the roll-out of the new HPV test was due to a decision taken by the Minister and the additional backlog and workload that has resulted. Their focus now is to try to eliminate the backlog. Is this the case? Can the Government give a date for when the new HPV test will be introduced? The officials could not commit to its introduction in the entirety of 2019.

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