As the funeral of Shane Geoghegan takes place this morning, I will not raise the matter of crime as a mark of respect for this much respected young man.

However, I wish to mention a matter I raised last week with the Taoiseach and which is on today's Order Paper. I refer to the HPV cervical cancer vaccination programme for young girls. This programme was announced by the Minister for Health and Children last August. It involves a vaccination which has clearly been shown to prevent cervical cancer and, as a consequence, saves lives. The cost is €10 million. Members on the Taoiseach's side, notably Deputy McDaid, the Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness and, at certain times, the Minister for Health and Children herself have called for cross-party agreement on the issue of health. I do not really want to divide the House this evening on a matter in which there is incontrovertible evidence that the vaccination programme announced by the Government in August and now being withdrawn actually saves lives. Among the cohort of young girls across the country who were to be vaccinated under this programme, a number will inevitably die of cervical cancer.

The Minister for Health and Children says it is either the vaccination programme or the cervical screening programme. It is not; it is both. In this case, €10 million is required. I note the drug companies have said they would defer acceptance of payment until next year, if appropriate. The cost, therefore, would be an administrative charge of €30 per pupil. The Government is to spend more than €10 million — the cost of the entire programme — on advisers, press sections and so on this year. Does the Taoiseach accept that this vaccination programme actually works and that it has the capacity to save lives in years to come? I ask him to review this matter during the course of the day, taking into consideration the very small amount of money involved and the potential to save lives in the future, so that the House does not have to divide on an issue——

Hear, hear.

——on which the Taoiseach's own Deputies have called for cross-party agreement from this side of the House. We can have cross-party agreement on this and we can show the Taoiseach how to find that money if he wants.

Hear, hear.

This matter is being dealt with during Private Members' business tonight so there will be an opportunity for all Members to put their views on the record. Those who get the vaccine must also undergo screening. The vaccine is not 100% effective in preventing cervical cancer. It is important that we do not use emotional language but that we be specific. All people who receive the vaccination must be screened. Screening provides 95% protection against cancer development, but the vaccine does not provide that level of surety. Thus, it is important not to suggest, as some Members seem to be, that non-provision of the vaccine puts people at risk. The screening programme provides 95% cover, which is a far greater level of effectiveness than the vaccination itself. It is important that those facts are stated. The screening programme is the best option. Other countries do not have the vaccination. Finland and Sweden do not use it, for example, yet these countries have strong health care systems.

We do not have it either.

I repeat that this is an opportunity for the Taoiseach to achieve cross-party agreement on this issue. There is a vaccine that actually prevents cervical cancer. The Taoiseach's response has thrown aside the evidence in the HIQA report that at least 51 lives can be saved over the years ahead by use of this vaccination programme. It is not a question of one or the other. It is both — the vaccination programme and the screening programme. The Government seems to have cast aside the fact that this programme will save lives. It is being withdrawn by the Government on the basis of economics rather than on the basis of saving lives because it costs €10 million to administer the programme.

Hear, hear.

Deputy Ring received a response to a parliamentary question in July to the effect that €10 million will be spent this year on special advisers, press officers and support for Ministers. We have evidence of the €8 million spent on consultancy reports. We know that when the Taoiseach was Minister for Finance he sanctioned payment after payment on the famous computer programme, PPARS, for the health system. He also paid out money for the upkeep of voting machines, on which the Government of which he was a member spent €60 million. This amount would have allowed completion of the vaccination programme for six years. This Government has reduced people's lives to economic statistics. The Minister for Health and Children, who is sitting beside the Taoiseach, announced the vaccination programme with great fanfare in August and included conditions which she has now withdrawn. Some parents will now be forced, because of their concerns, to have their children vaccinated at a cost of €500 or €600, while others will not be able to do that. Even if it is only a matter of 5%, the Government has withdrawn a programme that we know can save lives — that HIQA states can save lives — because of its cost.

This party put forward a number of propositions. The pay freeze would bring in €400 million across the public pay sector. Dropping another Minister of State would save €5 million or €6 million. There are so many areas where the Government could save €10 million in the knowledge that it is not just bolstering up bloated administration or facilities for Ministers but putting in place a vaccination programme that will save lives. That is the point. The Taoiseach has an opportunity today to review this programme and not have every one of those Deputies on the Government side, many of whom have genuine concerns about this, forced up the steps to vote against the establishment of a vaccination programme we know can save lives. A 12 year old in school today who would be the recipient of the vaccination programme, which we would support, will have a life to live. Others will not. I do not want it said that the vaccination programme that could have saved the lives of 5% of girls in this cohort, if that is what it is to be, was withdrawn by the Government. The Government has an opportunity to admit this programme works, review this situation and Fine Gael will support the Government in what its members have been calling for — cross-party support on a health issue where we can prove, beyond voting "yay" or "nay", that lives will be saved.

The Government motion states that we will keep this matter under review and that motion will be supported by the Government side.

Like everything else it is under review.

Deputy Kenny is making untrue assertions using populist arguments in an effort to——

Is the Taoiseach calling me a liar?

Deputy Kenny is using emotional blackmail in an effort to make a political argument. He is wrong. No health care system has brought in a vaccination programme before the full national screening programme was in place.

That is not the argument, and the Taoiseach knows it. He is being disingenuous.

We are putting the national screening programme in place, which will save lives in the age cohort that is relevant in this regard by 300,000 people being screened next year.

The Taoiseach pays the advisers and consultants.

The Deputy should listen to the facts because I am fed up listening to that sort of argument from him playing emotional blackmail and mock concern by putting out false assertions and trying to create fear amongst the people. He is wrong.

The Taoiseach can lecture away.

The screening programme——

Is the Taoiseach telling this House that the HIQA report is untrue? Is he telling this country that HIQA is wrong in its assertion that 52 lives can be saved by the use of this vaccine?

Will Deputy Reilly give up his €400,000?

He is not on €100,000 like the rest of them.

He is on €400,000.

I remind Deputy Reilly that we are engaged in Leaders' Questions and he is not yet leader of his party. The Taoiseach is replying to Deputy Kenny. Please allow him to do so.

No vaccination programme has been rolled out until the full screening programme is rolled out.

Did the Government not know that in August?

Why did the Minister announce it in August with a bottle of champagne?

That is 300,000 people next year. We will keep this matter under review. It is the screening programme that identifies the pre-cancerous cells and ensures cervical cancer does not take hold. That is the issue. I have listened to what Deputy Kenny said and it is false. The screening programme provides the greater certainty where 95% of all cancers can be identified. The vaccination programme will not go ahead in 2009 but is being kept under review.

It is economics versus lives.

That is a wrong statement. It is a nice populist statement and he will get plenty of headlines for it, but it is wrong.

It is a fact.

The Taoiseach should ask his Deputies McDaid and McGuinness.