Bienvenue to our visitors. I wish them a pleasant stay.

It is now ten weeks since the lid was lifted on the appalling collapse in standards at CervicalCheck and the failure to communicate that collapse. It is ten weeks since the courage of Vicky Phelan in fighting her case and resisting enormous legal pressure to sign a gagging order came into the public domain. Let us never forget that if Vicky Phelan had signed that gagging order, the public may never have heard of what is facing hundreds of women across the country. It is nine weeks since Emma Mhic Mhathúna stopped the country in its tracks when she spoke on "Morning Ireland". Her interview shook the country to its core. If the Tánaiste needs to hear of the impact that this failure of the State has had on people's lives, he should listen to Emma's interview with Miriam O'Callaghan a few minutes ago on "Today with Sean O'Rourke" wherein she described how her condition has deteriorated because of that failure. It is nine weeks since there was an emergency Cabinet meeting on the issue, the resignation of the director general of the HSE and promises from the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, that they were going to do everything to resolve this matter, use every possible resource to so do and that there would be no delays.

However, we now see the falsity of those promises. RTÉ News, an organisation which has a special place in the Taoiseach's heart, today reported that the independent review of 3,000 smear tests has yet to begin. That news is not new. Justine McCarthy, in an article in The Sunday Times on 17 June, reported that the delay was likely. When the review was announced by the Taoiseach in the House on 2 May, he committed to it being completed by the end of May. Today is 5 July but the review has yet to commence.

Why did the Taoiseach come to the House and make a promise he knew he could not keep to a group of women who had already been let down by the State? When he made that announcement on 2 May, he stated that he wished to restore confidence in our cancer screening programmes. All Members wish for him and the Government to so do. However, all we got on 2 May were words to get him through Leaders' Questions but on which there has been no follow through. The failure to follow through on those commitments has further undermined the confidence which all Members wish to be restored.

I do not ask the Tánaiste for answers or sympathy but, rather, a plan. Does he understand the distress, pain and worry through which those women and their families are going? The Tánaiste should not try to get out of the Chamber and hope we do not ask more questions on this issue because we will keep asking questions. I ask him for an exact timeline for the commencement and conclusion of the review. Will the scope of the Scally inquiry be adjusted as the review is important to its findings? I ask the Tánaiste to confirm the accuracy of the figures presented to the Committee of Public Accounts this morning which indicate that 221 women have been affected. Can he confirm that all of those women have received medical cards and financial support as promised by the Taoiseach on 2 May?

The Government encourages questions on this issue. That is why the discussion and questioning at the Committee of Public Accounts this morning are, and will continue to be, appropriate. The Government is an open book on the issue.

The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, the Taoiseach and many others have prioritised the support of the women and families involved in the scandal since it broke. Many Members of the House have worked with individuals linked to the scandal and will continue to so do. An hour ago, the Minister introduced the heads of new disclosure legislation, following through on the commitments he made in that regard. It is wrong to suggest that the Government has not been active on the issue, prioritised the support of women and families caught up in this tragedy or is not moving ahead with the commitments it made.

It is important to state that the Government has agreed to move ahead with the report of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which is an organisation of international standing independent of the Government and has its own procedures that it needs to put in place. We have asked it to undertake a complex review which involves much accurate assessment and that is about to take place but the Government cannot impose the timetable for it. We must ensure the review is fully accurate and has the confidence of everyone caught up in the CervicalCheck scandal and, more important, the women of Ireland, who need to know that we have learned lessons and fully understand why mistakes were made. Of course, we will encourage a speedy review to ensure the information gathered by that independent body is accurate and allows us to learn lessons. In the meantime, we will continue to work with individuals who have been hugely courageous in exposing this scandal and continue to put support packages in place for them and their families.

The Tánaiste stated that he encourages questions but he has just shown that he is not very good at giving answers. The Taoiseach, while in the seat in which the Tánaiste is now sitting, promised that the review would be completed by the end of May. Nobody else in the House made that commitment. The review is complex and there is science involved and we want it to be done properly but the Taoiseach set out the timetable for it and the Government has failed to deliver on that. The Government was alerted to a problem in that regard on 17 June but Fergal Bowers of RTÉ today revealed that the Government has done nothing to address it.

The Tánaiste stated that lessons have been learned. What lessons does he think are learned by further undermining confidence? I asked him to confirm the number of women affected which was presented to the Committee of Public Accounts today by the HSE. Have all of those women received medical cards and the financial supports guaranteed to them or will they be dragged through the courts as was Vicky Phelan?

I respectfully ask Deputy Calleary to be responsible in terms of how this issue is discussed and covered. The figure of 221 is correct but that is not new information. The Committee of Public Accounts was informed at its meeting on 14 June that the audits of a further 12 women were close to completion.

That is the additional 12. The Minister is also ensuring these women are receiving the supports available.

In terms of trying to ensure that court cases and an adversarial environment are not part of the legal actions women and families are choosing to take, the State has been active on that. I was very pleased to see that Emma Mhic Mhathúna's case was settled without any further court hearings or court action. We will endeavour to ensure that is the case for other women and families involved as well.