I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that over the last ten years the national CervicalCheck programme has made a very significant contribution to public health and that it has been effective in reducing cervical cancer rates since its inception. More than 1 million women aged between 25 and 60 years were screened in its first ten years. The participation rate is close to 80%, which is on a par with some of the best programmes across the globe. In the first ten years of CervicalCheck an estimated 65,000 cases of high-grade pre-cancer were detected. Cervical cancer rates, which had been rising year on year before the CervicalCheck programme began, have been reducing by 7% per year.

The decision of the Minister for Health in April 2018 to offer free smear tests out of schedule to every woman who wanted one has clearly damaged this programme and put it under enormous strain. Some 79,500 women are now waiting for results and the backlog is getting worse as a result of that decision. Some have been waiting up to 33 weeks. Some 71,000 women have been waiting longer than four weeks. The HSE says that two thirds of the backlog is due to the decision on free testing. The introduction of the new HPV test, which will be far more accurate and precise, has been delayed indefinitely.

In a submission to the Joint Committee on Health, the former clinical director of CervicalCheck, Dr. Gráinne Flannelly, confirmed that prior to the Minister's decision and his tweet giving the go-ahead on the Saturday afternoon in question, a Department of Health official contacted the screening service to discuss this proposal. Dr. Flannelly immediately advised against the decision, saying that, among other issues she instanced, it would fundamentally undermine the programme, that the laboratories would not have sufficient capacity and that waiting times would be longer. Within the hour the Department of Health responded by saying that the decision was to proceed with this policy in any event. This contradicts flatly the assertions made to this House by the Minister who has said in answer to parliamentary questions that neither he nor his officials were advised in advance of this decision.

Deputies Donnelly and Lisa Chambers and I have been asking questions on this since January. It has taken us three months to get to this point. Some specific questions were simply avoided and were not answered. The Minister said that neither he nor his officials received advice that recommended against these tests in advance of the decision. His officials did receive advice from the clinical director, Dr. Gráinne Flannelly, that this would undermine the programme. In the committee Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister whether any clinical expert or any of his officials advised him against his decision and he said that, to his recollection, they had not. He doubled down on this assertion in replies to subsequent parliamentary questions.

I put it to the Taoiseach that there are two elements to this. The programme has been damaged. It is a stark illustration of how a very poor decision can be damaging to public health. The truth needs to be told in this House. Questions need to be answered comprehensively and the full truth told about the exact sequence of events that occurred. I ask the Taoiseach to ask the Minister for Health to come to the House and give a comprehensive statement outlining the full sequence of events leading to his decision and the interactions between his Department and CervicalCheck.

I thank the Deputy very much. I agree that CervicalCheck, alongside the HPV vaccine for girls, has been successful in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer in Ireland. It has led to women being diagnosed with cervical cancer sooner, which has resulted in a fall in the number of cases of cervical cancer and the number of deaths resulting from cervical cancer. Overall, both CervicalCheck and the HPV vaccine have made a huge difference with regard to women's health. I very much agree with the Deputy on that.

The damage to the programme was not done by the Minister for Health but by the scandal of non-disclosure. The officials the Deputy quoted and the conditions he mentioned were at the centre of that scandal. On 1 May 2018, the Deputy himself was very critical of those officials. He said they were cold and calculating and suggested they may have been involved in illegality or in a conspiracy. In his comments on 1 May he was extremely critical of the same people he is now quoting.

As the Deputy knows, the backlog of smear tests is very significant. While the clinical risk is minimal, there are tens of thousands of women who are waiting far too long to receive the results of their smear tests, which is causing anxiety and worry. I understand that. It is a big problem which we need to get on top of. Approximately 100,000 more smear tests were carried out last year than in the previous year. That was down to two factors, namely, the fact that an out-of-cycle smear test was offered and the increase in the number of women taking up the offer of cervical screening. The increase was not solely down to the extra out-of-cycle smear tests; it was also down to the increase in the number of people attending for smear tests who otherwise would not have attended. It is a positive thing that more people were attending, but it meant that there were many more smear tests than the system and laboratories could handle. As a result, while the majority of women are getting their results within 15 weeks, in some cases women are waiting as long as 33 weeks. Obviously, that is not acceptable.

I am informed by the HSE that it has now sourced additional laboratory capacity, which will allow it to reduce the backlog. We should see that backlog decreasing over the coming weeks and months.

I put it to the Taoiseach that he and the Minister have been in denial and that the Minister has not been upfront with this House. He needs to correct the record. Is the Taoiseach denying the sequence of events outlined by Dr. Gráinne Flannelly? Is he saying that this sequence of events did not occur? I also put it to the Taoiseach that his approach to the national screening service, notwithstanding the crisis last year, lacks character. The Minister's response also lacks character. The Taoiseach cannot say on one hand that a ten-year screening programme that has had a profound and significant impact on public health and which has reduced cancer rates-----

Fianna Fáil voted confidence in the Minister.

There will be no interruptions from Deputy Mattie McGrath.

The Taoiseach cannot accept that and then turn on those people and dismiss them. He is following the same line that the Minister, Deputy Harris, did in an interview with Brendan O'Connor during which he simply dismissed all of those people involved in CervicalCheck, their contribution to public health and their records in order to save his own skin. The Government panicked. The decision reeked of incompetence and panic and there were no public health criteria nor any advice from relevant individuals to justify it. Essentially, it was the wrong decision. Sometimes, it is better to admit that up front and be honest with the House when people ask basic questions. Last January, thejournal.ie ran a story on this matter and I asked questions on foot of it. They were avoided. Deputy Lisa Chambers and others also asked questions. It has taken until now and a submission being made by a person who made a contribution. I am a balanced individual and I will honestly state that the non-disclosure was wrong, but Dr. Gráinne Flannelly made a significant contribution to building up CervicalCheck.

The Taoiseach to respond. We have exceeded the time.

It is wrong for Ministers to cast a person and the entire service aside just to save their own skins and cover their tracks for a wrong decision being taken. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister to appear before the House and give the full sequence of events honestly?

The Minister has been before the House on a number of occasions in respect of this issue. He has also been before the health committee. I am sure he will be happy to answer further questions if they are asked. The Deputy has asked me to account for conversations to which I was not party and for correspondence that I did not receive. As a result, it is not possible for me to answer the questions.

We asked the Minister.

I have asked the Taoiseach to ask the Minister to appear before the House.

The Deputy's approach and the attack in which he has engaged lack character. Remember what he stated about the senior people in CervicalCheck on 1 May.

Context, Taoiseach.

He stated that they were cold and calculating and suggested that they may have been involved in illegality. He also suggested that they could have been involved in a conspiracy. Perhaps Deputy Micheál Martin should reflect on that. If he holds the views that he has outlined, he may wish to correct the record and withdraw those remarks that he made about those senior clinicians and senior people in CervicalCheck on 1 May.

It is not a case of either-or.

The situation at the time was that there were a lot of women who were really concerned about the accuracy of their smear tests.

They are still concerned and they want the results.

They were attending their GPs looking for repeat tests. They were contacting the helpline looking for repeat tests. There were some doctors calling for repeat tests to be allowed. Patient advocates were also calling for that. When it was done, it was welcomed by the Opposition and it was agreed by the IMO. This was not just a decision made by the Minister for Health.

I questioned it at the time.

The Taoiseach, without interruption.

It was also made with the agreement of the chief medical officer.

Those women are still waiting.

I call Deputy McDonald, who has three minutes.