By now the Taoiseach will be aware of the harrowing story of Mrs. Irene Teap. Mrs. Teap was twice given incorrect cervical cancer screening results, in 2010 and again in 2013. Two years later she was diagnosed with stage 2 cervical cancer. Irene Teap died in July last year. She was 35 years old with her whole life in front of her. She has left behind a heartbroken husband, Stephen, and two young children. Irene died not knowing that she had received two incorrect smear test results. She died not knowing that she could have benefitted from earlier medical intervention.

I understand that Mr. Teap has spoken with the Tánaiste, Deputy Coveney, who conveyed his feelings and listened to what Mr. Teap thinks should happen.

He is quoted in today's Irish Examiner as saying:

I want Tony O’Brien gone and to help get rid of the panic that’s out there. Tony O’Brien cannot remain on while an investigation into CervicalCheck takes place.

Mr. Teap's words echo the same sentiment and message as those of Vicky Phelan when she asked how Tony O'Brien has the neck to stay in his job. The fact that the Taoiseach continues to back Mr. O'Brien sends a very negative message to the victims of this scandal and the public more generally. People look on and see the old boys' club that runs this State protected at all costs. The old boys' club is protected even when the lives of women have been placed in the gravest of jeopardy by its members' catastrophic failures. Now, despite Mr. O'Brien's gross incompetence and his failures, the political establishment is seen to circle the wagons around him. Earlier the Taoiseach spoke of the feelings of hard-working staff within the HSE. The Taoiseach's refusal to hold Mr. O'Brien to account does them the gravest disservice of all. Telling the women of Ireland not to worry because Mr. O'Brien will soon take his annual leave simply does not cut it. In fact it is downright insulting. It deliberately misses the point.

We tabled an amendment to the Rural Independent Group's motion seeking to create an opportunity tonight for Deputies across the House to debate and to vote on whether this Dáil has confidence in Mr. O'Brien. We should not have to do this but we have had to because the Taoiseach and his Minister for Health have failed to lead from the front. His Government refuses to act and now the Dáil has been silenced on the matter. The Taoiseach said that he would listen to women and their families. He said they would be front and centre in all of his efforts. I now challenge him to be true to that promise, to start the process of accountability, to tell us that he has no confidence in Tony O'Brien and to tell him to vacate his post.

First, I thank Deputy McDonald for her very warm tribute to our deceased colleague, Monica Barnes. The Deputy is indeed right. Monica Barnes often did not come across as a typical Fine Gaeler, perhaps in the same way that Deputy McDonald does not always come across as a typical Sinn Féiner.

This is a serious issue. Why is the Taoiseach joking?

We will put these down as-----

Is this an olive branch, a courtship? It is nice.

-----compliments in both directions.

I have read and heard about Irene and Stephen Teap and their family. It is a very sad story and one which has affected everyone in the country. Indeed the Tánaiste met with and spoke to Mr. Teap over the weekend to hear about his concerns, to talk to him and to hear what he has to say. Many of us saw the photograph on the front page of The Sunday Times over the weekend. It was a picture of a beautiful young family, a perfect family which has been broken apart by the tragedy of cancer compounded by the fact that Ms Teap was not told about the false negative smear test, as she should have been, and by the two opportunities to intervene earlier which were lost. Everyone can understand the sorrow and anger which must be felt in equal measure by the family and by their friends.

In terms of accountability, of course people want accountability and the Government wants it too. I know that people are very annoyed about how this has been handled over the last few weeks, about the drip-drip of information and about the misinformation given on occasion. I assure the Deputy that the Government and I feel exactly the same way. We have had resignations already. The clinical director of CervicalCheck has resigned. The manager of CervicalCheck has stepped aside from her role and has been replaced by Damien McCallion. It may be the case that more heads may roll in the period ahead, but it is important that they are the right heads and that we proceed with this inquiry as the Government has indicated. I do not think that our focus should be on looking for heads. This should not be about any one man.

This should be about the hundreds of women who are affected and the thousands, or perhaps tens of thousands, who are very concerned about whether their smear tests were accurate.

Mr. O'Brien has about eight weeks to serve until his term as director general of the health service ends. His focus during those weeks should be fully on getting to the bottom of this issue. He was in CervicalCheck's offices over the bank holiday weekend. His focus in the coming weeks he has left should be on doing everything he can to get to the bottom of this, to put things right and to restore public confidence in our cancer screening. That is exactly what we expect him to do.

The post of director general will be advertised in the coming weeks. It is very important that we get a good person to take that job and lead the health service forward. The Minister for Health indicated again that it is our intention to re-establish a HSE board, one that can hold the organisation to account. I certainly would welcome the involvement of the Opposition parties in talking to us about how we might structure that board. I do not believe it should be established in the normal way, whereby we go to the Public Appointments Service and get applicants. We need to think on a cross-party basis as to how we can have a very high-powered board made up of people who can establish a layer of accountability between the Department of Health and the executive of the HSE.

This is not simply a question of looking for heads, as the Taoiseach puts it; this is a matter of seeking and securing accountability. I said to the Taoiseach in my remarks that he told us - I understood this in good faith - that he would put the women and families who have been devastated by this scandal front and centre. I am now asking him to demonstrate his bona fides in that regard. Those concerned have said that, for them, the first step in achieving accountability is to hold Mr. O'Brien to account. That is what they want and that is what the Tánaiste has been told. So far, it seems we are going around in circles. On the one hand, the Taoiseach critiques the HSE and its leadership but, on the other, he is not prepared to act and lead from the front. That is his job. It seems to people looking in from the outside, not least the women and their families, that Mr. O'Brien is absolutely untouchable - untouchable even though wives have been lost to their husbands, untouchable even though mothers have been lost to their children, untouchable even though life itself has been lost to women, and untouchable even though the man has patently and clearly failed in his duties. I want to know what the Taoiseach is going to do about that today.

The only thing that has any credibility or that will honour the Taoiseach's promise to listen to the women and their families is for him to state clearly - as, I understand, members of his Cabinet have stated today - that he has no confidence in Mr. O'Brien, that Mr. O'Brien must go, that Mr. O'Brien is not part of the solution and that, in fact, his leadership of the HSE has been part of the problem.

I assure the House that the Government and everyone on these benches is putting the interests of the women affected and their families first. That is what has been foremost in our minds in dealing with this matter over the past week or so. It is not right for any politician or any leader of a political party to seek to appoint herself or himself as a spokesperson for all the women and families affected. These are people who can speak for themselves, and some have done so.

They have done so.

They have done so.

We have heard Deputies McDonald and Micheál Martin recount some of their stories. I have also spoken to people who have been affected. It is not right for Deputy McDonald - or any other politician - to appoint herself as the spokesperson for a diverse group of women and families. That is really wrong.

In the context of what the Government is doing today, it is establishing a scoping inquiry. The inquiry will answer as many questions as possible as quickly as possible. We all know people want to get answers as quickly as we can get them, and we want that also. That is why we have decided to establish a scoping inquiry under the leadership of Professor Gabriel Scally, assisted by Dr. Karin Denton. They will examine these issues. Our intention is to have them produce, in June, an outcome answering all the questions that can be answered and establishing the facts that can be established and are not contested. After that, we will follow on with a commission of investigation to look into those matters that cannot be dealt with by means of a short scoping inquiry.

While that scoping inquiry is under way, I will certainly ask people to co-operate with that, respect it and allow these two professionals to get on with their work. Professor Scally is in the country today, and that work begins today.