Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment. I also refer to the unfortunate blunders that seem to be repeated in the cervical screening programme. The news from last night further undermines the programme and we cannot afford it. In the words of Deputy Louise O'Reilly of Sinn Féin, it is incredibly regrettable. Surely the HSE should have informed these Houses as soon as it discovered this glitch in June, which concerns 800 women who had repeated the test because of the previous scandal. A female friend of mine had a test in December and only got the results a week ago. It is a very long wait. In some cases it is far too long. Have the resources put into the screen test been improved? Will the Minister spell this out? What is the average wait for these tests? How can we proof against an IT glitch? This is a serious credibility issue for cervical screening. Women's lives have been lost, sadly, and we will lose others in the future.