Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As this is my final Leaders' Questions, I will ask about something that is important to me and on which I have worked for many years. It relates to women's health. First, I acknowledge Vicky Phelan and wish her the very best from the floor of the Dáil, and I hope all Members share that with me. I also acknowledge and thank Ms Lorraine Walsh, Mr. Stephen Teap and Mr. John Wall for their support and the work we have done over the past number of years. They certainly have had the biggest impact on me politically, more so than probably anyone else. It is four years since Vicky won her High Court case in April 2018, when she bravely refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

We all know what happened with regard to CervicalCheck as a result of that. Huge progress has been made, and I acknowledge that.

We need to move on, however, in respect of a range of issues, such as a review of legislation on abortion to look at policy and the real problems with a lack of access for women and safe access zones. We also need to look at the national maternity hospital to make sure it is publicly owned and controlled. Nothing else is acceptable. When the CervicalCheck tribunal was established in 2020, I stated that it was not acceptable. I predicted that more than 200 cases would go to the High Court. There are now more than 300 cases before it. To date, it has received only 19 claims. For me the concerns were never addressed. It is never too late to do the right thing. This is shameful and wrong, and it should be looked at. Most of all, we have the final progress report of Dr. Scally on the recommendations of his scoping inquiry into the CervicalCheck screening programme. There are four outstanding actions. Will the Tánaiste outline the status of these?

The issue that really concerns me is the Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents) Bill 2019. To be fair, the Tánaiste has history on this. It was published in December 2019 and debated in the Dáil but has been stuck on Committee Stage ever since. We need to get the Bill over the line because it would provide for mandatory open disclosure and ensure patients' voices are heard. This is about ensuring that people have an absolute right to know information about their healthcare and that hospitals, screening providers and doctors do not keep information from them. This has been going on for way too long. I ask, on behalf of Vicky and everyone else, that we address this as soon as possible and finally get it over the line. It is a dear request for me. I want to see this legislation get over the line. It is a big component of the recommendations in the Scally report.

Will the Tánaiste ensure the national maternity hospital is publicly owned and controlled? Will he provide a status report on the remaining recommendations in the Scally report? Most of all, and most importantly, will he indicate to the House that the Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents) Bill 2019 will be enacted and brought into operation very quickly?

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