Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The fact that we are talking about the tribunal in the future tense at this stage is incredible. The Patricia Carrick case struck me in a number of ways. How could a Government fight her in the courts, practically up to the end of her life? It was incredible. She was not the only person who has been in that situation. It also struck me that she had taken a number of smear tests before her diagnosis, yet her tests were never part of any review. The reviews commissioned by the Department and the HSE focus only on slides of women who had been diagnosed with cancer. Patricia's slide was not re-examined until it was too late.

It struck me that we are re-examining slides only if the woman has developed cancer, and in many cases, when it is too late. Given the incredibly high number of women who are going through the court system, doctors are saying in some of these cases that the smear tests, when first read, should have been seen in flashing red lights. Given the tragic loss of life to date, does it not now make sense to review a sample of the slides of the asymptomatic women to see if we can catch these cancers while we can still treat them?

See this speech in context