Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I brought this up and asked for a solution. The Minister made some comments with which I had no issue, but he never ever addressed the matter. He did not bring forward an amendment or any other measure relating to this Bill. The reason this amendment should have been allowed is that women who have been affected should have the right to pursue compensation if cancer returns.

Unfortunately, the statistics show that cancer does return, as I do not need to explain to the House. As such, it provides for a provisional award. The biggest fear women have when they have been diagnosed and treated is that there will be a recurrence. The risk of a recurrence is greatest in the first five years. While a recurrence can happen later than that, it is more unusual. If a woman takes her case to court, she knows that she faces finality in the decision made. However, with a tribunal which sets its own rules, we should be able to do something different. That is why I tabled the amendment, similar to Deputy Bríd Smith's which was taken from the example of the hepatitis C tribunal. The purpose was to provide that if the cancers returned, women would be able to go back and look for further compensation. It would be wrong if they were unable to do so, in particular where they had been diagnosed with a severe and possibly terminal condition.

As the Minister knows, I speak to the representative bodies a great deal. One looks at what Ruth Morrissey went through. I admire her greatly and wish her the best. She fought for 36 days in the High Court and was treated disgracefully by the State. The judgment in her case is being appealed and I have stood alone in the House in saying it is wrong. However, let that be. Now that the decision has been appealed, the tribunal will not be up and running until well into the autumn. Therefore, the Minister has an opportunity to do what is right. As there is a timeframe, we do not even have to pass the legislation tonight. I do not want the Minister to let the women down. When I spoke earlier this evening to Lorraine Walsh about this exact issue, she asked me to read the following to the House. I have her permission to do and she is watching the debate. Obviously, all women will take legal advice. Lorraine Walsh states:

I am thankfully cancer-free right now but I, or anyone else, cannot know if it will come back in the future. So, it would seem crazy for me to sign away my rights to something I cannot know will happen or not. I get checked regularly for the very reason of a possible recurrence. The rest of the women who are thankfully alive or are not terminally ill are in the same boat. Why would we sign away that right when we do not know what the future holds?

With others, I am trying to ensure, given what has happened to the women and their families, that they will have all avenues open to the tribunal in an unfortunate situation where a small number of them see the cancer recur. Statistically, there is a possibility that will happen. In conscience, I cannot allow this Bill to move forward without seeing that issue dealt with satisfactorily tonight. I hope the Minister respects my sincerity in that regard.

See this speech in context