Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I was brief enough in my initial remarks in any event. I welcome the move towards testing for a greater number of organisms at the same time and towards a quicker turnaround, which obviously is of double benefit. I have to take as read what the Minister of State tells me about the test to which I am referring being more restricted in what it tests for. I hear where he is coming from in that regard.

In his final comments, the Minister of State referred to vaccinations. This is a matter of very serious concern generally, particularly as there is a great deal of unnecessary scaremongering about certain vaccinations in this country. It has been shown that there has been a reduction in the number of children being vaccinated for meningitis and for HPV, which causes cervical cancer. That is a much larger issue. This is obviously a system to detect meningitis when it occurs, but there is a way to prevent it occurring. We are so lucky to have these vaccines. It is a very serious issue that people are being misinformed and that there is a lot of misinformation about vaccinations. In many respects it is probably more important than detecting it. Obviously, we want a good system of detection. If, however, we have a way of preventing it, surely that is the only show in town. I encourage members of the public to inform themselves before considering not having any of these vaccinations because we are so lucky to have them and children need to get them. I thank the Minister of State.