Two years ago, news broke that Ms Emma Mhic Mhathúna died after a battle with cancer. Many people remember where they were on that day and when they heard that heartbreaking news. On the second anniversary of her death, newspapers reported that another woman was dragged through the legal system before her case was settled in the High Court. This is despite the Tánaiste stating that no other terminally ill woman would be dragged through the courts.

Ms Patricia Carrick is a mother of four who is 51 years old. She was too ill to attend court this week and I offer my sincere solidarity, praise and prayers to the Carrick family. The timeline is important. News of the CervicalCheck scandal had broken and Emma Mhic Mhathúna had passed away four months before Patricia took a smear test from which abnormalities were missed. The fact that there still seemed to be mistakes in assessing smear tests last year is shocking. Will the Tánaiste clarify what is happening?

I am afraid I cannot but I certainly will ask the Minister for Health if he can answer any questions the Deputy has in this regard. Nobody wants to see women or any patients having to go through the courts to receive compensation where negligence has occurred but we have a real difficulty as sometimes the facts are disputed. Where facts are disputed, there must be some mechanism by which both sides can be heard, experts can be interviewed and a decision can be made. At present, that happens in the courts but as the Deputy knows, work is very advanced now on an alternative process, which is to be tribunal-based.

I am thankful that the vast majority of cases are settled by mediation or negotiation and do not require a full court hearing. Some cases nonetheless require such hearings. It is sad that with any test, whether it is a smear test, another lab test or a coronavirus test, there will be false negatives and false positives. Most of these are not a result of negligence but some are. It is a difficult truth.