Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on the women's health action plan. First, CervicalCheck screening is not 100% accurate. There needs to be a public information campaign on this to ensure women who have symptoms do not ignore them because their screening test was clear. It is vital that if a woman has symptoms of cervical cancer that she goes to see her GP regardless of whether she received a clear smear test result. We need to reiterate this in every debate we have on women's health. It is so important. I would also appreciate a progress report from the Minister on the construction of a new screening laboratory. Where are we on this? Are we still outsourcing the analysis of slides?

The action plan for this year and the national maternity strategy mention increasing support for pregnant women who are suffering from addiction. Figures released to us show that the number of children addicted to drugs or alcohol has increased in recent years and particularly during the Covid crisis. The image of a midwife weaning a newborn baby off illegal drugs is shocking and distressing. People suffering from addiction need compassionate help and support. These are people like us with different life circumstances. We need to do everything in our power to help them. What specifically is the Government doing to tackle this issue?

I wish to pay tribute to Róisín and Mark Molloy for their advocacy on maternity services. Mark Molloy resigned from the HSE because of his poor experiences with the Department. One of the most shocking aspects of their treatment was the raiding of ring-fenced money. The Molloys were advocating on behalf of their son, Mark, and for other babies who died unnecessarily in the Midlands Regional Hospital. They were trying to save babies' lives. In 2019, the ring-fenced funding for the national maternity strategy was diverted by the Government to pay for the roll-out of abortion. The Government took money that was intended to save women and babies lives and diverted it to rolling out a procedure that ends babies' lives. This was utterly shocking, especially in the context in which the Molloys had lost their baby son. Will the Government apologise for the way it treated Mark and Róisín and will it return the ring-fenced funding that it raided from the national maternity strategy?

All the action plans on the planet are wonderful but if they are not implemented, funded or resourced, they will not make any difference to people's lives. We speak on a day when emergency departments across the country are under serious pressure due to overcrowding. In the past year, I learned that 107,000 people had adverse incidents caused to them by actions taken by the HSE. We desperately need proper management of the HSE and proper resourcing.

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