This morning, the Cabinet approved the publication of the progress and interim report of the scoping investigation being conducted by Dr. Scally into the CervicalCheck scandal. We are told that the now final report will be delayed by anything up to six weeks. We are also told in Dr. Scally's progress report that information he requested on a number of State agencies has only been provided in recent days. He also informs us that a significant proportion of these 4,000 documents were provided in a non-searchable format. Great effort was made in printing, scanning and then resending to ensure they would be non-searchable because many of the documents were electronic in their original format. Dr. Scally has said they are unable to read many of the documents.

This is of course highly regrettable, given that it has without a doubt caused the final report to be delayed, and given the time-sensitive nature of this investigation and the need for real and substantive answers for all the women affected and their families. However, even more troubling is the failure on the part of the Government to make good on its promises that the women affected at the heart of this scandal would have access to their own medical records. His comments yesterday that ensuring this is not as easy as taking out a book from the library were shocking. The comments lack empathy and miss the central point. They were described by solicitor Cian O'Carroll, rightly, as smart-alecky. Mr. O'Carroll said the Taoiseach did not address the central issue, which is the fact that records are still being kept from the victims of the CervicalCheck scandal. That is exactly what the Taoiseach did not address.

This is the reality and the Government knows it because we raised it. I raised it with the Tánaiste last month, on 17 May, when I told him of an incident in which the legal representatives of a woman affected by this scandal - and therefore a woman who did not have time on her hands - went down to Limerick on arrangement to collect her medical records and were told they would not be provided to her. The legal representation was told to leave the premises and was escorted off the premises. Nearly a month on, the same thing is happening. Women are still being denied access to their own records, and they need those records.

We all must play a role in rebuilding trust in this screening programme. I have said it before and I will say it again: it has saved lives and will continue to save lives. However, it must enjoy public support and women must have trust in it. Central to this is accountability, and central in turn to that is full disclosure of all the relevant information. The Scally investigation is just one part of this; access to the justice system is another core part. To have such access, access to basic medical information is needed, and that needs to be done with compassion and a sense of duty. I therefore ask the Taoiseach the same question I asked last month: will the Government intervene and ensure that women who are asking for medical records that are held by State agencies will be given them without undue delay? Will the Government call in the head of CervicalCheck to ensure that it gets the message clear that there will be no more stonewalling and no more putting up barriers in the face of these women who are in search of justice?

I also welcome Mayor Farrell to the Chamber. I had the opportunity to visit San Francisco last year and met his predecessor, Mayor Lee, who very kindly presented me with the keys to the city of San Francisco. As the House knows, there is a very special relationship between San Francisco and the city of Cork in particular, and I was really very sorry to hear of Mayor Lee's untimely death. The delegation has our condolences in that regard. We are really glad to welcome those in the delegation here.

There have been delays in providing information to the Dr. Scally inquiry, which was established by the Government, which he mentioned in his report published today. In some cases there have been delays in providing patient information to solicitors of patients who have requested it. I assure the Deputy that it is Government policy that there should be no undue delay in providing medical records and information to women and patients affected by any of these issues. The Government has given that policy direction to the public bodies concerned and it will be reiterated. However, it is not as straightforward as going to the medical records department of a hospital and requesting a patient chart. Medical records are about much more than that. They can be in several different places, not only in paper and electronic format, and include the patient's charts and electronic records as well as X-rays, slides and other scans that may be in laboratories or radiology departments elsewhere. It should also be borne in mind that it in many cases it is reasonable to first go through the medical records to ensure they do not contain information about others which is privileged or belongs to somebody else or that cannot be released for another reason. Nevertheless, the Government's policy is that there should be no unreasonable or undue delay in providing records to patients when they request them or when their solicitors request them, and that also applies to Dr. Scally's inquiry. That policy direction has been made and will be reissued.

We have heard similar words previously. The Tánaiste said the same a month ago after I brought this to his attention. I do not know what the Government did after that. Did the Government speak to CervicalCheck and ask why, when it had been arranged for a woman's records to be in Limerick in order that a court case that needed to be taken within a short window could be taken, her legal representatives were told that they could not have access to the records and were escorted from the premises after being told to leave? Over the past four weeks, other legal representatives have faced the same barrier. As I walked from my office to the Chamber, another legal representative was speaking on "Liveline" about how they were being stonewalled by the HSE, how they were not getting access to information and how, despite the laboratory saying that it has the test, it will not provide it. Yet the Taoiseach says that the Government's policy is that there should be no undue delay. However, there is a delay. What will he do about it? The Taoiseach is not an innocent bystander; he is the leader of the Government. This is a terrible scandal that we have raised here week in, week out, yet women are still unable to access their medical records. As Dr. Scally mentioned in his report, the women's sentiment can be summed up as, "My body, my records". As he said, I could not agree more.

The Taoiseach needs to intervene, as does the Minister for Health, because this cannot go on. Compassion and urgency must be shown, and these records must be provided immediately to any of the women who request them. This should have happened weeks ago. It is not acceptable that we are still discussing this four weeks later.

The Deputy has asked the same question again and I can only give the same answer. There are reasons there may be delays in providing records but it is Government policy that records, samples and files, whether they are in electronic or paper format, along with X-rays and other radiology scans, should be provided to patients when requested. The direction has been given to the public bodies concerned and will be given again.

The Government has acted swiftly to establish a serious incident management team, which has contacted all the women affected. We established the scoping inquiry and Dr. Scally produced his first progress report in that regard earlier. He also published a report on one of the terms of reference - (d) - relating to the information provided to women. Although it will be the end of the summer before Dr. Scally concludes his report, he will provide interim reports along the way, which is welcome and valuable.

Part of the delay will also relate to the fact that he is very keen to engage with women and their families individually. I very much welcome that. We have also secured agreement with the Irish Medical Organisation to ensure that women who are concerned can have free consultations with their GPs and repeat smear tests if warranted. We have appointed a team from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology which is going to go through all of the slides again to see what anomalies were missed-----

Will the Taoiseach call on the head of CervicalCheck as I asked?

-----and to help us understand whether they were the result of misreadings or ambiguous readings.