A month down the line – and still no answers

RECENT history has shown time and again that when ordinary people bump up against the State they get bruised or crushed. No-one ever decreed that official Ireland must have a marble heart but somehow that is the impression we get. We live in an age when everything needs to have a sensational context to get even glancing attention. But the nightmare that Emma Mhic Mhathúna and her five children are experiencing fits anyone’s description of a living Hell.

She is dying, and has received an incorrect smear test result. Despite promises from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris that such victims would not be “dragged” through the courts, that is where she finds herself.

If that is not traumatic enough, according to her solicitor, her five children also face being assessed by psychologists for the legal team of Quest Laboratories. The children are aged from two to 16.

Ms Mhic Mhathúna herself will be assessed by a psychiatrist. Neither the Taoiseach nor the Health Minister can step back from the commitment they made. This family has surely suffered more than enough.

In another category, there are thousands of women who have cancer which was not picked up by screening tests. They still do not have clarity on what assistance they may or may not be entitled to.

As far back as May 2, Mr Varadkar confirmed that women whose cancer diagnosis was delayed will be offered redress.

He made the comment in the Dáil in response to questions from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.

He also appealed for “calm” and space for the Government to make the right decision and do right by the women involved.

These women have remained “calm” but a month down the line, with no support and still more questions than answers, serenity is a big ask.