Varadkar loses confidence in mediation as solution to cervical cancer scandal cases

Leo Varadkar

At a press conference about the CervicalCheck scandal yesterday, Mr Varadkar said mediation was “not the holy grail or panacea that we thought it was a few months ago”.

Only two cases have been settled through mediation so far, while 221 women are believed to be affected by the scandal.

His comments suggest that the Government may examine the possibility of setting up a statutory redress scheme.

The Taoiseach added: “I certainly had much more confidence that we could settle all cases through mediation thus avoiding a court trial but it has become evident to me that may not be the case so we need to explore other mechanisms, other alternatives to going through the court process.

“We have had other mechanisms, redress schemes for example, for similar health scandals in the past. Solutions that I want to find and I’ll do my best to find them.”