The Minister for Health has said that inaccurate information about the Human Papilloma Virus vaccine, especially on social media, had affected the uptake of it.
Simon Harris was responding to a private members' motion from Labour TD Alan Kelly to extend the HPV vaccine to boys.
The HPV vaccine has been offered in Ireland to first-year girls in secondary schools since 2010.
Mr Kelly said programmes vaccinating boys and girls were more effective and that the "decision on this needs to happen soon."
Mr Harris told parents if they were worried, they should take advice from a doctor, and not from a public representatives or anonymous social media accounts.
"The spread of inaccurate mistruths and misinformation concerning the safety and effectiveness of the HPV in the media, particularly in social media, has had a significant impact on update rates," he said.
Fianna Fáil's health spokesperson Billy Kelleher said policy decisions had to be made empirical evidence.
"If you look at the international reviews of the various HPV vaccines, it is without doubt a very safe vaccine and one that saves lives," he said.
He said the fact that there has been a drop off in the update of the vaccine means some women will lose their lives.
Independent4Change TD Clare Daly said she supported the motion, but said it was abhorrent that people who had asked questions were being vilified.
She placed an amendment to the motion calling on the Health Service Executive to engage with families who are reporting adverse affects to the vaccine, to determine the cause and support them in their medical care.
