Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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Question 622: To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that medical practices are defrauding the State by obliging patients to pay the registered postage required to send smear test samples to the National Cancer Screening Service (details supplied); if his further attention has been drawn to the fact that medical practices are delegating the actual procedure of taking the smear sample to persons within their practices who are not on the register of qualified smear takers with the CervicalCheck programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18929/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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CervicalCheck, the National Cervical Screening Programme, provides free smear tests to women aged 25-60. The HSE has contractual agreements in place with 2,055 contract-holders for the provision of smeartaking services as part of CervicalCheck. They include doctors (clinically responsible doctors) and clinics.

Within each practice or clinic, there are a number of smeartakers who are registered by the clinically responsible doctor as qualified persons to take smear tests. In total there are 4,979 smeartakers registered as part of the programme,including both doctors and practice nurses. Under the terms of the contract with the HSE, the clinically responsible doctor is responsible for ensuring those he or she has registered as "qualified persons" are adequately qualified to take smear tests. To support smeartakers in practice, CervicalCheck offers regular free training and clinical updates to smeartakers registered with the programme. In so doing, it partners with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) and the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP). In the academic year 2010-2011, training and education was provided for over 1,000 health professionals.

Under the contract between the HSE and the clinically responsible doctor, the practice or clinic where a CervicalCheck smear test is taken is solely responsible for ensuring delivery of the smear test sample to the designated cytology laboratory for analysis. No woman who has a smear test as part of the CervicalCheck programme should pay for postage. I am advised by the HSE that, since the introduction of CervicalCheck in September 2008, a small number of instances have come to their attention of a woman being asked to post her own smear test sample for analysis. Any complaint received by the programme, including that referred to by the Deputy, is thoroughly reviewed and followed-up.