Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Tonight is an important and positive occasion in finalising the important legislation before us, but it is also a poignant occasion. Throughout the debate, we have held those women front and centre and thought of them continuously. That includes those women lost their lives as a result of what happened with CervicalCheck and those whose lives were turned upside down but who have survived. We also think of their families, who have had a terrible time, whether those families were bereaved or are coping with very serious diagnoses and all the treatment involved with that. This is an enormous tribute to the memory of all of those women and other women and men in the 221+ group who have not let this issue rest and have campaigned vigorously in recent years to ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past and that we put robust legislation in place. The 221+ group has done an extraordinary job and deserves huge thanks for the advocacy work it has done and will, no doubt, continue to do. We desperately need it to continue to do that work.

I also pay tribute to all the staff in the Department involved in bringing the legislation forward. It is undoubtedly complex and comprehensive legislation and required a huge amount of work and working through different key issues. They were available on a number of occasions to provide briefings to us and to the 221+ group. I welcome the meeting of minds that has taken place recently between the group and Department officials.

I thank the Minister for the important work he has done in prioritising this legislation. It is great to see it reach this point. As a result of the campaigning work that has gone on, we have improved services and improved legislation, and we hope there will be an improved culture, but we are not there fully yet. It is a work in progress to continue the improvement of services, make them more patient-focused, make legislation more patient-focused and, most of all, to change the culture within our health service to ensure higher quality and more responsive services, as well as greater transparency and accountability. I thank everybody involved. It is a really important night.

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