The Tánaiste has said he is sorry that Lynsey Bennett's case against the HSE and two testing laboratories was not settled sooner.
The seriously ill mother-of-two settled the case over the alleged mishandling of her cervical smear tests on Wednesday.
After the CervicalCheck scandal emerged in 2018, then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said no woman involved should have to go to court.
Mr Varadkar was challenged on this by members of the Opposition during Leaders’ Questions today.
Ms Bennett was among hundreds of women affected by the controversy around incorrect smear test results.
A 2018 review identified at least 221 women diagnosed with cervical cancer who were not previously told about misreported smear tests, and could have been alerted to the early stages of cancer.
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty said: “Today is World Cancer Day. Can I begin by extending my solidarity to Lynsey Bennett and expressing my deep anger at what we saw yesterday.
“Another woman failed by the State, another family failed by the State, another woman who was forced to go to the court again, despite assurances that should never, ever happen again.
“It is a scandal, Tánaiste, and you gave a commitment to these women back in 2018. It is time that that commitment was delivered upon.”
Labour leader Alan Kelly accused the Government of “waiting for women to die”.
He said: “Are the State Claims Agency literally waiting for women to die, because it will be cheaper for the State?
“Because the law, which the Chief Justice says needs to be amended, means that their next of kin, if pursuing the cases, will not get the same amount of awards?”
Mr Varadkar responded: “My thoughts are with Lynsey Bennett today, particularly her daughters, Zoe and Haley.
“I hope that her treatment goes as well as possible, and she gets as much time as possible with her daughters.
“I understand that the case was settled. I’m sorry that it wasn’t settled sooner.
“I don’t know if it could have been settled sooner or not, but it is a good thing that it was settled.”
My heart dropped yesterday watching Lynsey Bennett outside of the Hugh Court. She is another woman who has been failed by the State. @alankellylabour pic.twitter.com/7pKYNsj5zx
— The Labour Party (@labour) February 4, 2021
He added: “It is the objective of the Government to settle cases by mediation, where possible.
“I understand this case was settled by mediation and didn’t have to go to trial, but perhaps it could have been settled earlier. Only the legal teams know that.
“And at the time, when I made that commitment, as I’ve explained before, I believed and hoped that it would be possible to settle all cases by mediation or negotiation, but unfortunately that hasn’t proved to be the case.
“It is the case that, on more than one occasion, the facts are disputed. Scientists and doctors say that they weren’t negligent.
“Unfortunately there will be cases where the facts are disputed and therefore there has to be some sort of hearing.”
Mr Varadkar said the CervicalCheck tribunal would allow cases to be fast-tracked, heard in a more sensitive way, and “hopefully produce better outcomes for the women concerned”.
But Mr Kelly said the tribunal is “a waste of time”.
“That’s not the answer. If it was the answer, there wouldn’t be 200 cases lining up in the High Court.”
