Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I seek a debate on the new vaccine for cervical cancer, on which there are two schools of thought. One is that we should await the results of further tests and that a national screening programme should be pursued and the other is that the vaccine should be made available nationwide to every woman of a certain age.

I support Senators Terry and Finucane in saying it is very unfair at present that a woman in the higher income tax bracket can buy the vaccine for €600 and recoup 41% thereof while a woman with a medical card, who is generally in the lower income bracket, could not possibly afford such an outlay to buy the vaccine.