Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming before the House today. This is a really serious issue. Ms Vicky Phelan's case really is a tragedy that could have been avoided. She is a hero to all Irish women. She has been an example of what a woman can do. She was relentless, she was tireless, she was exhausted. She was a solitary soul fighting against the State. That is what she was. The Minister should hang his head in shame that the State and the Department he represents put this woman through legal hell as she went through medical hell. Fianna Fáil welcomes the recent move to set up an independent investigation into the CervicalCheck scandal. However, Vicky Phelan was the woman affected by this and she must be part of the terms of reference. I am glad the Minister mentioned that she will be, and that he has met her. That is good.

The inquiry must be fast and the Minister has indicated that June is his timescale. I ask him to ensure that he delivers on this. Such an inquiry must not be used to withhold information from the public. We need full disclosure from CervicalCheck, the HSE and the Minister. Following an audit of the 208 cases, the news that more than 17 women have died is truly shocking. It is beyond belief that today we may still not know the full extent of this. A serious incident management team is continuing to gather information from about 13 hospitals on the scale of this controversy. It is unreal. It is staggering that one woman, her family and her legal team have to go to court to access her own medical truth. The way that this State continues to treat its women is nothing short of shameful and deplorable.

When will someone stand up? At the first sign of an error or an admittance that something is wrong, the buck is passed. Why do we leave it up to one brave soul to fight all the battles? The practice of keeping secrets, whatever the reason - be it fear of litigation or fear of upset - has to stop. Things are best out in the open. We can no longer have people hauled through courts just to get what is their own truth, their own information in the first place. I want the Government, the Department of Health and therefore the Minister to tell us what steps are being taken to hold the HSE accountable. I acknowledge the Minister has outlined the different steps he is to take, and I welcome this. However, it is with the Minister that the buck stops at the end of the day. We cannot allow the HSE to run this Department, and that is what is happening. The HSE is a law unto itself but the Minister is allowing it. That cannot happen.

Vicky Phelan has recently started on a new drug and is hopeful of being accepted into a US programme offering radical, innovative treatment. It is disgraceful how this State has let her down, robbed her of her time, her life and peace of mind. She was made to go through the courts, not knowing what the outcome would be. The fact that more than three quarters of the 208 women whose cases are being examined by this audit were not told that they had a delayed diagnosis is scandalous. These women and their families have been failed by the CervicalCheck programme. All the surviving women must be informed of the situation and given all the supports they need. There must be full disclosure as to what mistakes were made. There can never be secrecy again, and I am asking the Minister to ensure that this never happens again.

We also want the Minister to ensure that no other family is forced to go through the courts to find out what errors were made in their care. We in Fianna Fáil welcome an examination of other national screening programmes, because there are real fears among the population using them. People are living with the fear of not knowing. People need to be checked. If we cannot trust the system and the system is failing then somebody is accountable and that is the Minister. However, there should not be interference in the work of the inquiry into this CervicalCheck programme, which must be carried out immediately. I am asking the Minister to make sure that he comes back to us with the answers in June.

There are a lot of questions that the Minister still needs to answer. Every woman and family in the country has been affected by this. One can feel people's fear when talking to them. People are calling my office. It makes one ashamed. One wonders how professionals could let this happen. It is unheard of. We cannot allow this.

Mandatory reporting is needed to achieve this. Fianna Fáil believes that mandatory disclosure must be provided for under law for all patient care. We need a system of checks and balances. When something is flagged, it should never take ten years, a lengthy court case, 17 deaths and a resignation for the truth to be revealed. Listening to the reports about the court case and reading the information the Minister has put before the House, it is hard to believe that such a serious case was being fought in the High Court by the State, and yet no-one seemed to know. I believe the Minister was not informed until 16 April. Someone must be accountable here. Ms Phelan has been fighting a case for a long time, and yet the Minister says that he did not know until 16 April. I am not happy with that, and I think something here does not add up.

I am asking the Minister to never allow anything like that to happen to an Irish woman ever again. We must never put anyone through that. The cases of the 17 women who have died are absolutely tragic. I am looking for a full commitment from the Minister that he will hold the HSE accountable. Deputy Harris is the Minister and he is over the HSE.

The issue of Versatis patches arose recently. The HSE restricted them, even though people are in severe pain.