Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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1599. To ask the Minister for Health the total number of women affected directly by the misreading of their cervical smear tests to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30424/25]

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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1600. To ask the Minister for Health the total number of women who were directly affected by the misreading of their cervical smear tests who have passed away to date. [30425/25]

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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1601. To ask the Minister for Health the total number of women currently alive who have received a terminal diagnosis as a direct result of the misreading of cervical cancer tests. [30426/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1599, 1600 and 1601 together.

Although not directly related to the questions asked, I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 968 of 8 April 2025 (PQ 17189/25), where I provided information on the number of claims relating to CervicalCheck based on information provided to me by the State Claims Agency, but is the information available. The State Claims Agency has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of State Authorities. The response to the question can be found here: www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2025-04-08/968/#pq_968.

The Government is fully committed to the support and enhancement of our population screening programmes, including the advancement of cancer screening initiatives. Our population health screening programmes play a crucial role in our healthcare system. They promote both cancer prevention and early detection, enabling timely intervention and treatment that lead to better health outcomes. Several reviews and reports acknowledge that Ireland’s screening programmes operate to international standards with robust quality assurance. The Cervical Screening Programme has robust safeguards to ensure it performs to the highest standards. The HSE have advised that it is operating as expected.

Cervical cancer screening is excellent at detecting cancer early for as many women as possible, and it is deeply regrettable, but unavoidable, that screening doesn’t work for everyone If cervical cancer is found in between a woman’s cervical screening tests, it is called an interval cancer. This is because it is found in the interval between a previous test and the next test. Sometimes, interval cancer happens because of a false negative result. These are results that were reported as negative, even though there was an HPV infection or abnormal cells in the cervix. Other times, interval cancer happens even though there was no sign of abnormal cells in the previous screening test. These are known limitations of screening and are accepted internationally.

It is essential to emphasise that screening is not a diagnostic test, it is for healthy people who do not have symptoms, people who are between screening appointments, or are waiting for rescheduled appointments, are aware of symptoms, or if they have concerns or worries, should contact their healthcare provider, who will arrange appropriate follow-up care.