CervicalCheck tribunal Bill
Deputy Martin raised unanswered questions on the Minister for Health’s advice and meetings about CervicalCheck, and asked that the tribunal Bill be prioritised. The Taoiseach said it is one of six priority Bills and should be published and enacted before the summer recess.
I recently asked the Minister for Health when he had received advice from his officials on the impact of announcing a recheck of cervical smear tests, if he had held meetings with them at that time, the discussion that took place and if he would make a statement on the matter.
His written reply did not answer any of the specific questions I tabled. I have complained under Standing Order 44 in that regard. I ask the Taoiseach to take this up with the Minister in the context of the CervicalCheck tribunal Bill that is on the Order Paper and on the legislative programme, which is important legislation to follow through on a commitment that was given by the Government. It is equally important to be fully transparent in all decisions that were taken on that issue, the background to those decisions being taken, and the advices received. I ask the Taoiseach to ensure that the Minister gives me a full reply to that and indicates when he thinks the Bill will be before the House.
Comment on this
The CervicalCheck tribunal Bill is one of only six Bills on the priority list and our intention is to have it in the House and enacted before the summer recess. I am told that setting up a tribunal of this nature, which is different from previous tribunals in the sense that it will have to assess liability and not just the level of compensation paid, is novel and it will be difficult to do, but I have said to both the Attorney General and the Minister for Health that I want them to prioritise this alongside Brexit legislation, so the timeline is for publication and enactment before the summer recess. It is essentially a six-month timeframe.
On the other matter, I am not privy to that information. I will tell the Minister for Health that the Deputy raised it today but now that the out-of-cycle smears are no longer being provided, as that programme ended towards the end of last year, we would anticipate that there will be an improvement in the time it takes to get results to women. I know a lot of women are concerned about the delay in getting the result of their smear test.