Yesterday afternoon I raised the cervical cancer issue in this House and yesterday evening, the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, informed the Dáil that there were over 1,500 more women with cervical cancer whose cases had not to date been audited. This means there are 1,500 women with cervical cancer who may or may not have had a false negative smear test result through the CervicalCheck programme before their diagnosis of cervical cancer. It means that these women may or may not have benefited from a different and-or earlier treatment of their condition.

As of today, we do not know if this audit has commenced or been completed, nor do we know why the Minister did not send in the serious incident management team to investigate the matter when he initially discovered that there was a huge issue on 16 April via the memorandum he received. Evidently, the Government has had no idea at all what is going on in the Department of Health and is sleepwalking around this crisis with nobody in control and no-one with any knowledge of what is going on. The literal drip-feeding of the information to us via the Minister for Health in the Dáil and via the Department of Health is shameful and it is a deplorable way to treat Irish women.

I commend Vicky Phelan's bravery and composure in pursuing this matter and the bravery of her family. Like her, I find the fact that nobody in the HSE was aware of this matter before 16 April incredible. The further discovery of 1,500 women yet to be audited is mind-blowing and deeply upsetting. Was it the case that this information should have been obvious, given the statistics available on the cancer registry? Last night on "Prime Time", Vicky Phelan said that she was disappointed and disheartened by the revelation but that she was not surprised. She added that there was no-one leading this and the news is changing on a daily basis. No-one can disagree with her comments. This is the same "Prime Time" programme on which Ministers were invited to appear but refused to do so. They were nowhere to be seen yesterday.

They were in the Dáil.

Strangely, Vicky Phelan told us that the Taoiseach invited her to meet him but she politely and kindly refused his invitation.

Which is more important? "Prime Time" or the Dáil?

Nobody, including Vicky Phelan, is discouraging women from getting a smear test using the current system. What we as politicians are advocating is accountability, transparency and reliability from this service. Helplines and general practitioner offices around the country are inundated with calls today and have been for the past week since this scandal emerged.

To date, GPs and practice nurses, the primary service providers, have been given little or no guidance from the HSE on, first, how to handle the volume of calls and, second, how to advise and treat patients who have treatment options or concerns. Adequate resources must be made available. I join in the calls for an inquiry to be commenced without delay with the ability to compel witnesses within any of the agencies involved to give evidence.

On a further note, in today's edition of The Irish Times we read of a potential conflict of interest involving the HSE director general, Tony O'Brien, after it has emerged he will take up a position within a US pharmaceutical company that specialises in female contraception. I refer in particular to the fact that he potentially breached his fiduciary duty to the HSE by becoming a board member of the company this January while still in the employ of the HSE, and with the Minister's knowledge and consent. Surely, this is a bad deal for taxpayers. The Minister has so many more questions to answer and I look forward to hearing him answer them in this House.