Leo Varadkar has promised a full Dáil apology to the victims of the cervical cancer scandal.
The Taoiseach made his pledge after meeting yesterday with representatives of the CervicalCheck victims support group, 221+.
Mr Varadkar will wait until the Dáil reconvenes next month as this is the most dignified stage to make an apology from.
Minister for Health, Simon Harris, accompanied the Taoiseach to the meeting with the victims group on Wednesday.
Mr Harris confirmed the apology is on the way from Mr Varadkar.
“I would expect that apology would be forthcoming in the next Dáil term,” the health minister said.
Minister Harris would not elaborate on the content of the meeting, saying that he wanted to respect the confidentiality of the discussions.
“I don’t want to breach the confidence of that meeting.”
“It was a really useful opportunity to catch up on a number of important issues in relation to our screening programme and a chance for both the Taoiseach and myself to thank Lorraine (Walsh) and Stephen (Teap) for the work they’re doing.”
The special summer meeting came about after the latest twist in the CervicalCheck scandal was revealed this week.
A review found over 4,080 women had delayed HPV test results as a result of an IT problem in a US diagnostics lab, which was contracted by the HSE.
Women and their families were kept in the dark about what has been described by the HSE as “a computer glitch.”
Stephen Teap is one of the leading lights of 221+.
His wife, Irene, died from cervical cancer in 2017.
The cancer was missed by two smear tests carried out under the CervicalCheck screening programme..
The 221+ campaign group’s name comes from the number of women that were originally caught up in the CervicalCancer misdiagnoses scandal last year.
Mr Teap said he hoped the meeting would be the start of a healing process.
He tweeted: “We met privately this morning with An Taoiseach & Minister Harris re: a formal apology that can begin a healing process for all impacted by the CervicalCheck debacle. The discussion was positive & will hopefully lead to a public conclusion soon.”
