Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The Minister needs to listen and take on board the concerns of women and those of the 221+ group. They want a non-adversarial approach in this tribunal and a tribunal that will not oblige women to fight the laboratories. They want they right for a woman to return to the tribunal if her cancer recurs. They want the statute of limitations to be extended as well as other reasonable, modest demands. They feel that the tribunal is not working for them. It is meant to be the Minister's job to ensure that the tribunal works for them. I support the extension of the deadline but it is not the key issue. The key issue is that the way in which the tribunal works needs to change and the Minister needs to listen to the concerns and to the women in the 221+ group.

I will make some other, more general points that were raised in this debate. On the issue of HPV screening, not having specialised capacity to examine slides in public laboratories in this State is no longer a relevant issue with the new techniques that are available. Has the State ended the contracts with the private laboratories or are tests still being outsourced to for-profit agencies? I would like an answer to that question. The scandal raises broader points about women's healthcare in the State and the treatment of women as second-class citizens by the health system. That has undeniably been the case as shown by this and other cases. The average wait for a woman or a girl who wants to get checked for endometriosis, while going through extreme pain in some circumstances, is nine years.

That is not acceptable. Many GP practices deal with the menopause as though we were in the 20th century. Medicine and techniques have moved on. Why do only 10% of women presenting with menopause have hormone replacement therapy, HRT, treatment? There are three beds in the entire State, in one public hospital, for the 200,000 people affected by eating disorders. Many people are forced abroad for treatment. Second-class citizenship for women in the healthcare system must be ended. There should be justice for women in relation to cervical cancer. We can start by extending the deadline for compensation but that is not the key issue. The key issue is the way in which this tribunal works has to change.

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