‘Taoiseach sought good headlines when reality was different’
THE widower of one of the women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal has accused the Government of being “reactive” instead of proactive in its response to the scandal.
The Government has been forced to clarify an earlier assurance that no women affected would have to go to court.
High Court judge Mr Justice Charles Meenan has been asked to explore alternatives to adversarial court proceedings for the women and their families.
Stephen Teap, whose late wife Irene has died, welcomed the news but said it “should have been done in the first week of May when he said that no woman has to go to court”.
Mr Teap was speaking out following the furore over the case of cancer sufferer Ruth Morrissey and her husband, which is before the High Court.
Ms Morrissey gave searing personal testimony as she took to the witness stand last week.
The case has heaped pressure on the Government following Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s earlier promise that no woman affected by the CervicalCheck scandal would have to go to court.
Mr Teap also said that the review of the cases scheduled to be carried out by the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians needed to be completed quickly.
The review, which was scheduled to conclude at the end of May, has yet to start.
“It was announced at the beginning of May that no one will have to go to the court and the review will be finished by the end of May,” said Mr Teap.
“They were very good headlines, but in reality it wasn’t practical that it would be finished in that time frame.”
Mr Teap said there was a need to challenge the “culture of denial and silence” within the Department of Health and the HSE.
He also welcomed the commitment given to Vicky Phelan by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at a private meeting that the Government will introduce legislation if necessary to allow a commission of inquiry to be held in public.
“We have been calling for this to be an open enquiry from the very beginning. You can’t be investigating behind closed doors, given the number of victims of this. We need to be able to see what is going on,” Mr Teap said.
“The key here is that it is an open investigation but it needs to be done in a timely fashion.”
He also said Ireland needed to look at overhauling how medical negligence works, so families would not face a court battle for compensation.
In response to criticism that the response has been reactive, Health Minister Simon Harris said the Government was dealing with an “unprecedented health situation” that was evolving. “There have been an awful lot of moving parts. We have made progress,” he said.