Taoiseach issues an apology to Stephen Teap following CervicalCheck settlement

Cervical cancer campaigner Stephen Teap finally receives an apology from Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Following his wife, Irene Teap’s death in 2017, of cervical cancer- a year before the CervicalCheck scandal was revealed by recently deceased Vicky Phelan, Teap settled his High Court action yesterday with two laboratories that were responsible for examining his wife's smear tests.

The two laboratories in question both admitted a breach of their duty of care in misreading Mrs Teap’s tests.

“The blood of my wife and the incredible friends I’ve made who have passed away is on the Government’s hands and those politicians who have failed to listen,” Mr Teap said, speaking on the steps of the High Court yesterday.

In response Micheál Martin has admitted there was no defence” for what happened with the CervicalCheck controversy, apologising to Teap for the loss of his wife.

“In terms of the CervicalCheck scandal, it shouldn’t have happened, there is no defence for what happened.”

“Our sincere sympathies and apologies go to Stephen Teap and his family,” he continued.

2018 was the year in which the scandal originally broke. More than 200 women that used the screening programme who were later diagnosed with cancer were never told that their previous smear results had been audited, or in some cases, misinterpreted.

Dr Gabriel Scally, who has since carried out assessments of CervicalCheck, concluded that cervical smears were sent to “far distant” laboratories abroad; that the HSE’s quality assurance process was “not fit for purpose”; and that some doctors working for the programme spoke to women and families about its “ill-designed” smear audit in an “obstructive and callous” way.

Mr Teap and his sons have also since received an apology from the HSE stating, "We fully apologise to Stephen, Oscar and Noah Teap, and their wider family, for the pain they have suffered at the loss of Stephen's wife Irene.”

Despite the recent controversy, the Taoiseach insists that Ireland stands a chance to eliminate cervical cancer through a combined effort of the rollout of the HPV vaccine and the higher quality smear testing that has been put in place following the findings.