Yesterday on Leaders' Questions, I put it to the Minister for Education and Skills that central to building confidence in our health system must be the need for information, clarity and accountability. The Government has repeatedly pledged in the wake of the CervicalCheck scandal that this would be forthcoming. The Taoiseach said there would be a package of supports available to the women affected and to their families. He also said last week that pending court cases would be dealt with through mediation.

However, we understand that more cases are to be lodged this week. During yesterday's sitting of the Committee of Public Accounts, the solicitor for Vicky Phelan, Cian O’Carroll, spoke of two women who do not have time on their hands and have difficulty accessing their own medical records.

In an incident last Friday he described how, when the legal representatives made arrangements to collect documents that they were assured would be available at the CervicalCheck headquarters in Limerick, they were told on arrival that the documentation would not be made available and they were escorted off the premises. This was done in the presence of the programme manager for CervicalCheck, Mr. John Gleeson. That is hardly in keeping with the approach outlined by Government, is it? Stephen Teap told the Committee of Public Accounts that no support services were provided to him or his children at this point. Again, this is out of step with what has been promised by Government.

It would seem that what has come from Government is more about being seen to take action and get control of the situation rather than delivering substantive action. What the Government needs to do is take control of this issue. Those in government are not commentators. They are in charge and they need to act like it. The cervical cancer audit, which has been available since 2014, still has not been published despite assurances given last week that it would. Information in respect of the US laboratory detection rates that was promised to the Joint Committee on Health two weeks ago still has not been published. Why the delay? Why the wait? Is the Government not lifting the telephone and demanding that these records be put into the public domain? Will the Government do that? Will the Government ensure that it is published today? This is not a new request. This documentation has been promised.

I want to return to the issue I raised yesterday because it was not answered by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton. It relates to when the then Minister for Health, and now Taoiseach, promised to introduce mandatory disclosure, but he decided not to proceed on the advice of the chief medical officer, Dr. Tony Holohan. It was the wrong advice and the wrong decision. The chief medical officer was informed of the CervicalCheck scandal around the same time as this advice was given to the Taoiseach. A reasonable question is whether that advice and the information provided at the time to the then Minister for Health was informed as a result of the CervicalCheck scandal or indeed any other scandal. Will the Government publish that advice today? Will the Government publish the advice that the then Minister for Health got at the time as well as the advice the Government got to ensure that, late last year, it withdrew from the legislation that was going through these Houses the provisions for mandatory disclosure?

There are many questions being asked and many questions being answered today in multiple forums, as has been the case in recent weeks, including at Leaders' Questions, the Committee of Public Accounts and the Joint Committee on Health. We also have a statutory inquiry-----

It is not statutory.

My apologies. We have a scoping inquiry under way that will report initially in the first week of June and it will be finalised by the end of June. It will be followed by a statutory inquiry.

There is no question that any information or files are going to be hidden from anyone. As Vicky Phelan said yesterday, what is needed is full accountability and that is what is going to be delivered. What we are doing as a Government is trying to ensure that the information we put into the public domain now is fully accurate and complete. That is why we want to ensure Dr. Scally can get on with the work he needs to do while respecting the fact that the committees have important work to do as well. The work they have done in recent weeks has been most valuable.

Deputy Doherty referred to supports for victims of this scandal. I have met Stephen Teap and spoken to him on several occasions. It was Stephen Teap's contribution and what he was looking for in terms of support that influenced the way in which the package was shaped and how we would tailor support for individuals and their families with medical cards, out-of-pocket expenses and others supports and counselling that may be needed. It is by listening to people like Vicky Phelan, Stephen Teap and Emma Mhic Mhathúna that the Government has tried to respond as comprehensively as it can to provide tailor-made individual packages for families and individuals who need them from the HSE. Not only that, we are appointing people within the HSE who appoint people to talk to families and individuals to ensure we get the supportive packages right. That is a significant and important delivery for the Government to follow through on for victims and their families.

Deputy Doherty referred to accountability. We are already seeing, and we will continue to see, an insistence that no one is excluded from full scrutiny regardless of what offices people hold or who they are. The way in which we can do that most comprehensively is to let Dr. Scally get on with the work that he needs to do and the follow-on inquiry that will come afterwards.

The package of supports announced last week has not filtered through to the victims. Stephen Teap was before the committee. No support has been provided to him since then. We had the announcement. We had the press release but the follow-up has been wanting, to say the least, and that is not acceptable. This needs to be about the victims - the women and their families. Assurances from the Tánaiste that the Government is appointing people within the HSE to liaise with them one week on are simply not good enough.

I have asked the Tánaiste about information that does not represent a new request but that has already been promised. Are we going to see the cervical cancer audit of 2014 published? Are we going to see the documentation relating to the detection rates of the US laboratories published, as promised to the Joint Committee on Health two weeks ago? Will the Government publish the advice provided to the Taoiseach in respect of his U-turn on mandatory non-disclosure in 2016 as well as the advice provided in 2017 that encouraged the Government to withdraw the provision from the legislation that was passing through the House?

This is my final point. After eight days of searching for documentation, two individuals who do not have time on their hands were given assurances that the documentation would be in Limerick. Then, they were told that the documentation would not be provided to them and they were escorted off the facility. This is not the compassionate approach those of us in the House want to see in dealing with victims of this scandal. The Tánaiste should not tolerate it. The Government needs to take a hold and get a grip on this situation.

The Government is getting a grip of this situation. We are prioritising victims first. That is why we will seek for packages to be put in place for people in a very supportive environment and in a proactive way coming from the HSE as opposed to expecting victims or families to have to seek those packages.

For what it is worth, both Stephen Teap and Vicky Phelan spent time last night with the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, after their powerful testimony at the committee hearing. The Minister sought to ensure from our perspective that we fully understand what is needed by victims and their families in order that we can follow through in a comprehensive way. No victims should be treated in a way that adds any further to the trauma they have witnessed and the challenges that they continue to have to face, especially in the cases of the women who have cancer. I can assure Deputy Doherty of that.

If any commitments were made to make files or documentation available to committees, then that information will be forthcoming.