The Health Minister was accused of being involved in the decision to appeal the judgement that led to the €2.1million award to a woman who is dying because of the cervical cancer smear scandal.
It also emerged that Ruth Morrissey still hasn’t been officially told that the State Claims Agency is to appeal the High Court judgment.
The 37-year old, whose health has deteriorated in recent weeks, only learned of the move from a Sunday newspaper and then heard Health Minister Simon Harris announce it on RTE’s Week in Politics.
Her solicitor Cian O’Carroll revealed that the Minister did not contact Mrs Morrissey directly and accused him of “looking for political cover”. On Sunday it emerged that the State Claims Agency (SCA) is appealing the High Court decision on a number of issues but Minister Harris said he still hopes the full award will be safeguarded.
Mr O’Carroll told Today with Sean O’Rourke that he believes Minister Harris is involved in these decisions.
He said: “I’m curious to know why he’s distancing himself from this decision when he’s the one who’s effectively addressing it on television yesterday before our client was informed. He’s clearly involved in these decisions.”
Ms Morrissey and her husband successfully sued the HSE and two laboratories - Quest Diagnostics and MedLab Pathology Limited.
She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014 and the High Court case related to cervical smears taken under the CervicalCheck Screening programme in 2009 and 2012.
Mr O’Carroll said that there reports that the SCA and the labs were considering an appeal but he or Mrs Morrissey were not told.
He added: “MedLab said on the day the judgment came out, in a what you might call a knee-jerk reaction, within an hour or so, that they were appealing. But they subsequently told the court that they were considering that.
“Now, it’s six weeks on and it really is a problem because this appeal, if it is going to happen, and I don’t necessarily think it has to be for certain, but if it is going to happen it really should be getting on.”
He said that it appears as if the SCA is making it out to that the appeal is something that is essential for the future of screening in Ireland when it is not.
He said they are making out that the “absolute confidence” test is a problem.
He said: “The only reaction we have heard from the screening community in Ireland and from the medical profession, has been that this standard is too high, women in Ireland deserve less.
“I haven’t heard any woman say, ‘do you know what lads? I’m grand with the standards you’re using in screening here’. Nor have I heard any of these colleges or branches of the screening service say, ‘this is interesting, we should really look at this carefully and see can we do this better’.
“They don’t want to do it better, they want the status quo or less.”
Minister Harris’s department said that State Claims Agency is not appealing the monies awarded to Ms Morrissey. It is appealing elements of judgement and the SCA has confirmed it is not appealing the award.
