Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before I begin, I want to acknowledge the women and their families who join us today. The Taoiseach's apology is most welcome. It is important the apology not only relates to the initial failures, but also to how women were treated in the wake of this scandal. Women and their families were dragged through the courts to access their vital medical information. Women had to fight to access information on assistance payments. The initial investigations were slow and struggled to gain the confidence of the women affected. Unfortunately, as the Taoiseach has acknowledged, delay and obstruction were the overriding themes of the response to this catastrophe. Mistakes were made again and again, as more women received incorrect results. Labs were added to the CervicalCheck programme without the proper checks being conducted.

I hope I am wrong but unfortunately it seems that some of the lessons of this crisis have still gone unlearned, because beyond this welcome apology, Government must fix the system. Dr. Gabriel Scally called this apology momentous, stating that: “The three things that really matter to people when things really go wrong badly in the medical system are for someone to tell them the truth, what went wrong, why it went wrong; secondly to say sorry and to really mean that, and from someone with some skin in the game; and the third is to say how it is going to be avoided in the future.” This means that in addition to this apology, there needs to be real reform of the screening programme, because screening saves lives. We must see the recommendations of the Scally and MacCraith reports implemented because we can give apologies here with words, but words are hollow without the actions to back them up. We can say that lessons have been learned from this and that this will never happen again, but without putting in place the recommendations of the Scally and MacCraith reports, this could happen again.

A real and tangible apology consists of words and actions. Let us say honestly that because of what happened and in the memory of those who are no longer here, real change has been made, our services are better and this will never happen again. Central to ensuring this is the repatriation of the smear testing process to Ireland. This was recommendation No. 7 of the MacCraith report. It is imperative that a plan, along with funding, is put in place to do that.

It is clear that outsourcing played a part in this scandal and in the further mistakes that were made as regards delays in tests and the issuing of results. We know that this cannot be achieved overnight, but we need to work towards it because we have to fix the system. We have to ensure that women can enjoy absolute confidence in the screening processes on which we rely. Fixing anything in the health service means funding, as the Taoiseach knows. His words today need to be followed with actions and those actions need to be backed up by funding.

It was disappointing that in this year's budget no specific funding allocation was allotted to the CervicalCheck programme. This needs to change. The programme needs additional funding to ensure it can change and to implement the recommendations of the MacCraith and Scally reports. I hope, after this moment of apology, that in the coming weeks additional funding can be put forward for the CervicalCheck programme.

We also need to see the implementation of the patient safety Bill. This will provide for mandatory open disclosure of serious reportable patient safety incidents and notification of reportable incidents as well as other changes. The general scheme of the Bill was published in July 2018 but we are still awaiting pre-legislative scrutiny and holding out for its implementation. It is a matter of utmost urgency that the Bill be progressed and that we have full open disclosure.

In the summer of 2018, Emma Mhic Mhathúna spoke outside the gates of the Dáil. She stood with her young children at her side, who were facing the unbearable reality that they would lose their beautiful mother so early in life. With the mic in her hand, Emma was a force a nature – sharp, witty, funny and utterly unbroken. One line from her speech sticks in my mind to this day. I recall that Emma said; "I am not going to die and leave this country in unsafe hands." I stood in awe of this young mother fighting for her life and yet still having the courage and determination to speak out for others. She was grace itself, a wonderful person whose tomorrows were stolen from her. She was a beloved mother, daughter, sister and friend whose life was cut short.

I acknowledge there were many other Emmas, other women whose names we might never read in our newspapers but whose families too now live with the sorrowful reality of the empty chair. Beyond the headlines and the heat of the political crisis, Stephen Teap gave an insight into life without his wife, Irene. It is the simplicity of what he had to say that revealed the utter heartbreak. Stephen said; "For instance, I look at Noah [one of his boys] and I ask myself: do I start him in school in September or do I wait until next year? Who do I bounce that thought off? You end up discussing it with relatives and friends and it's like all decisions then are just you and you alone." Every parent inside and outside the House can relate to the loneliness of those words. This is the scale of the devastation. This is the depth of the loss. This is the CervicalCheck scandal. We can never lose sight of the human cost of the failures and we should never ever underestimate it. I know we do not.

We also should never forget that if it was not for Vicky Phelan revealing her personal agony in such a very public way that all of this agony may have been borne very privately. Vicky Phelan did not stay silent. Vicky spoke up. What dignity and what bravery. She is owed an immense debt of gratitude. Thank you, Vicky.

As I said, the State’s apology is welcome but the Taoiseach's words must mark real and tangible change. It is our responsibility now to honour the memory of women such as Emma and Irene by fixing our system. This is the very best thing we can do for all of the women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal and for all of the women, girls, men and boys of Ireland.

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