Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this very personal and sensitive issue. I personally know of a number of women and their families who have been impacted. I know the devastating impact it has had on their lives. The Government is here to support the women and their families. That is why we decided, with the full support of this House, to put in place a tribunal to support women to get justice without having to go through what can be the extraordinarily difficult process, in an adversarial environment, of going to a court of law. As the Deputy knows, the Government set up the tribunal on the recommendation of Mr. Justice Meenan and it is now enshrined in legislation.

I acknowledge the numbers the Deputy put on the record, which are undoubtedly very low. I think it is almost certainly the case that some women and their families are waiting to see how the process works out. If changes are required, then of course the Minister is open to any such changes to improve the system that is there. We do not want women to have to go to court to get justice on any matters relating to CervicalCheck. We can all agree in this House on the paramount importance of protecting this service, which is now back up and running. More than 6,000 women are detected and referred for early treatment each year. CervicalCheck continues to have very significant value for population health. In addition, we had the introduction last year of the HPV screening test, which is a very significant milestone for our cervical cancer screening programme.

The recent extension of the statutory deadline for making a claim to the tribunal will ensure that any woman or family eligible for the tribunal will have sufficient time to consider whether to make a claim. I know the extent of the contact and consultation the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, had on a personal level with the 221+ group and the issues it wanted to have addressed as part of the tribunal. The Government has done all it can at this point to support that process. We want a resolution that is non-adversarial in nature and that happens quickly. We acknowledge the real-time issues that are involved here. The Government will keep the matter under review. We want to see more of these cases settled in the tribunal than in the courts. However, we also have to acknowledge that it is the constitutional right of every woman to take a case to the court and to have it adjudicated in our judicial system, if that is what she so chooses. That option remains but we want as many cases as possible to be dealt with and settled through the tribunal.

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