The State Claims Agency is set to be grilled today over the growing scale of the cervical cancer crisis amid revelations the Government has imposed a cut-off point for affected women to be compensated.

Clear answers on the cervical cancer scandal could be delayed even further after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar admitted thousands of women potentially affected will have to individually give permission before their tests can be examined.

The Government should draft new laws to block RTÉ top presenters being paid through private companies instead of as staff members, amid repeated claims the purpose is to “reduce their exposure to income tax”.

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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has defended the granting of a time extension to the Scally scoping exercise into the cervical cancer scandal.

Women and families affected by the cervical cancer scandal have to borrow money and rely on “the good faith of solicitors” to fight for access to medical records as supports promised by the Government have not yet materialised.

Department of Health chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has ignored calls to resign over the cervical cancer tests scandal by controversially claiming he would not be doing his job if he informed ministers of every health crisis.

“If I do die, I do not want it to be in vain.”

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said the Government cannot direct Oireachtas committees to stop investigating the cervical cancer scandal, despite the concerns of an independent expert examining the crisis that the dual questioning is distracting witnesses.

Cervical cancer victim Vicky Phelan and the widower of Irene Teap, who lost her life due to the same scandal, will attend a special Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting today to highlight what questions they still have over the crisis.

The HSE may be forced to appoint a patient advocate to its returned HSE board as part of strict new accountability and transparency measures set to be passed by the Government.

Two Government ministers have failed to express confidence in Department of Health chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan after he admitted last week he knew about the damning HSE cervical cancer memos in 2016.

Your lunchtime headlines.

Three women out of 10 who had taken cases against the State in circumstances similar to Vicky Phelan have died, it emerged yesterday.

Minister for Health Simon Harris twice declined to express confidence in the director general of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Tony O’Brien.

The verdict on the cervical cancer scandal blames two aspects of the HSE: Communication and culture.

The Government is “open to” changing legislation to guarantee any investigation into the cervical screening scandal is carried out in public.

A week after the lid was lifted on the cervical cancer scandal, the Government still does not know the number of women adversely affected.

The Government will not fast-track a compensation scheme for hundreds of women affected by the cervical cancer scandal despite 17 women dying.