Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute. It is good that we are debating this Bill and that we have reached this point. It would be a shame if we did not get it right at the last minute. The question we must ask ourselves is whether the Minister's amendments will live up to what Vicky Phelan and other campaigners would have wanted to be part of the legislation. If the answer is "No", then the Minister needs to recognise that and go back to the drawing board.

All Deputies want to work with him on the Bill and to achieve the same outcome, namely, a service in which women have confidence. I use the CervicalCheck service and want to have confidence in it. I want my daughter and my friends to have confidence in it. I want them to know that, as a right, there is not information about them, their health and their well-being about which they are not aware. Unfortunately, the way the amendment is constructed - and what the Minister has stated - means that every woman will be told she has a right to a patient safety review but she will not be told if there is a discordant slide.

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