Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the cervical smear scandal and the continuing fallout. We were all rocked last April when it emerged that Vicky Phelan had refused to sign the gagging order and lifted the lid on the scandal of the year. It is ongoing. With many others, I was shocked to hear that the interim director general of the HSE, Ms Anne O'Connor, had said she was concerned about the length of time it had taken to process cervical smear tests. There are 78,000 cervical smear tests outstanding, while there is a 27-week waiting time for the results to be received, which is completely unacceptable. There was an increase of 90,000 in the number of smears last year because of the scandal. It is good that women are having repeat smear tests which the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, offered without putting any thought into how they would be processed and the increased demands they would put on the service. We are concerned about this.

The issue of women's health has been pushed to the side for too long. This is concerning. Therefore, I would like the Minister for Health to come into the House to talk about the cervical smear scandal which is ongoing and from which many think we have moved on, but we have not. The women of Ireland are still very upset. Ms O'Connor mentioned that the HSE was developing a laboratory to check the results at the Coombe hospital. There is an initial €5 million capital allocation for the development of the laboratory. Will the Minister give a commitment that the €5 million for the project will not be taken and used to plug the gap in the health budget caused by the massive overruns on the national children's hospital project? It is important that the project go ahead.

We learned yesterday in the High Court that there were not enough judges to process all of the cases being taken by the women affected by the scandal. That is outrageous as time is of the essence for the women concerned, many of whom have terminal cancer. They are all seriously ill. It is outrageous, therefore, that the Government and its buddies in Sinn Féin are even entertaining the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, and his Judicial Appointments Commission Bill when there is a shortage of High Court judges.