Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for responding so quickly to the many requests from various Members of the House for the Minister to come before the House. As I understand it, he will attend tomorrow, and I thank the Leader for his speedy action on this. There will be a time for accountability. As for language such as "heads will roll", all that must be dealt with, but in a timely manner.

What really needs to be dealt with tomorrow - and I hope the Leader will communicate this to the Minister - is the tens of thousands of women between 25 and 60 years of age who do not know where they stand. There has been information in the media to the effect that each woman between the ages of 25 and 60 will be written to. What will the content of that letter be? I note the IMO has written to the HSE seeking guidance on what it should tell women of that age group when they are contacted. Has a circular gone out to GPs in this regard? Will every woman between the ages of 25 and 60 be offered another smear test? If so, has the infrastructure been put in place to ensure that this is done in a timely manner? These are questions I was asked last night in Dublin Bay South when I was out talking to people. They want to see action to restore their confidence in the smear test. They also want to know whether they need to have another test now.

I wish to raise one other matter with the Leader. I have been a trade unionist all my life. I have supported the trade union movement and I believe in collective bargaining. I wish to send a loud and clear message to TV3 to recognise the trade union movement that was protesting outside its studio.They only want collective bargaining yet the board of TV3 is refusing to recognise the rights of the cameramen, those working in lighting, and the editing crew to union representation. It is totally and utterly wrong for a major television company to deny trade union members professional assistance in negotiating their wages and conditions.