Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Senator Maria Byrne. I thank the Minister for attending. This really is tough because the CervicalCheck tribunal is such a mark on our history. There have been terrible outcomes, including loss of life. It is important to recognise the women affected and their families.

The cervical screening tribunal is examining the State cervical screening programme, including inaccurate diagnosis and lack of treatment. As previous speakers have done, I encourage women to ensure they get regular checks. With the lockdown and pandemic, we have prioritised other things and we sometimes forget about our own health. I encourage women to log on to cervicalcheck.ieand book an appointment. I acknowledge the general practitioner services in our towns and villages, many of which provide this service so it is not difficult to get this done. I appeal to the Minister to introduce measures to support our GP services and primary care services to ensure more specialties for women's health in our local GP and family practices.

As has been mentioned, we should encourage parents of young girls to consider the importance of the HPV vaccine. Imagine not having to go for smear tests. Having access to the HPV vaccine is crucial.

The investment in the clinical lead for women's health is wonderful. Senator O'Loughlin mentioned this as well. Has that appointment been made appointed yet? I will speak to the investment in healthcare infrastructure, resources and laboratories as well as the training of medical scientists. All of these things will prevent anything like this recurring. What infrastructure do we need to have in place?

I welcome the Bill to extend the period for compensation claims. I acknowledge the bravery and strength of women who are suffering the impact of this. I acknowledge the 221+ group, the CervicalCheck patient support organisation, which supports women taking the first step to go into this process.

We should acknowledge that this is an extremely onerous process. It is such a demand on a woman who is going through this to have to deal with the potential tribunal or the legal side. I acknowledge the strength and bravery of women who are doing that, as well as managing outcomes relating to their health.