HEALTH MINISTER SIMON Harris has said that he will be looking at ways of insulating the court award in favour of Limerick mother Ruth Morrissey in any future appeals.

It comes as the Sunday Business Post reports today that the State Claims Agency will apply tomorrow to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal the judgement.  

Harris says the State Claims Agency decides whether the case should be appealed, and that the government and politicians give no direction in relation to this.

Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, Harris said that the appeal was about the phrase “absolute confidence,” adding that there was concern amongst the medical community about how that affects our screening services. 

“I would like a mechanism to protect Ms Morrissey’s interest in any appeal that may happen,” he said.

Ruth Morrissey and her husband Paul, from Monaleen in Co Limerick, sued the HSE and two laboratories – Quest Diagnostics and MedLab Pathology Limited – over her cervical smear tests, which were reported incorrectly.

The two laboratories have previously indicated that they would appeal.

Harris says he “needs to work his way through” how to protect the High Court award (€757,000 to Ruth, and €1.4 million to her husband) from any further appeal, Harris said, adding that she had been “vindicated”.

“Nobody should take that from her,” he said.