Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Senator said, every area of the health services has been affected by Covid-19 and our national screening cancer services are no exception. The HSE and the National Screening Service are working hard to provide cancer screening in a safe environment and to get screening back to full capacity. I take the Deputy's point and I agree with him wholeheartedly that we have to ensure that this matter remains a priority. It is essential that we do so.

As I outlined, the data for March and April show a significant improvement. The National Screening Service continues to provide up-to-date information for the public on its programme websites, including regular updates with respect to Covid-19. Due to the difficulties we are encountering in the Department of Health and the HSE because of the cyberattack, I encourage anyone who has an appointment this week to check the website, if possible, before attending because, unfortunately, many appointments have been affected. It is awful when we are finally getting back on our feet that people who have been waiting for an appointment for quite a while might have it cancelled.