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

The Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, said this morning that he is happy to meet again, listen to and engage with the 221+ group. It is his judgment then as to whether the Government would make a decision on Tuesday to defer the establishment of the tribunal. Obviously, I will be guided by him in that regard. Bear in mind that it is being established as an alternative to court for those who want it. Nobody has ever suggested, or is suggesting, that somebody would not be able to court if the person felt that it was in the person's best interests. It is the wish of everybody in government, and I believe every Member of the House, that as many cases as possible should be settled by mediation and negotiation, with no need for a court trial or a tribunal. That is happening in a number of cases.

However, there is an issue which is different from other issues in the past. That is where the facts are disputed. On the one hand, the person taking the case says her smear was misread and has experts to back that up, while, on the other hand, the doctors and scientists say they did not misread the smear and that they have a right to defend themselves and say they did not get it wrong. I am not sure what the Deputy is proposing. Would she like to take away that right from them? I do not believe she is proposing that, but that is where the difficulty arises.

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