Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid I cannot but I certainly will ask the Minister for Health if he can answer any questions the Deputy has in this regard. Nobody wants to see women or any patients having to go through the courts to receive compensation where negligence has occurred but we have a real difficulty as sometimes the facts are disputed. Where facts are disputed, there must be some mechanism by which both sides can be heard, experts can be interviewed and a decision can be made. At present, that happens in the courts but as the Deputy knows, work is very advanced now on an alternative process, which is to be tribunal-based.

I am thankful that the vast majority of cases are settled by mediation or negotiation and do not require a full court hearing. Some cases nonetheless require such hearings. It is sad that with any test, whether it is a smear test, another lab test or a coronavirus test, there will be false negatives and false positives. Most of these are not a result of negligence but some are. It is a difficult truth.

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