Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for coming and his presentation. The screening programme for breast cancer provides diagnosis and primary treatment for women between the ages of 50 and 64 years. I have benefited from such screening and have an appointment shortly for a second screening. While I appreciate what has been done and do not want to criticise Fianna Fáil and the Government, I fully support the Labour Party motion. I would like more co-operation from the Minister's side of the House because we are trying to impress on him how seriously we take the BreastCheck programme.

While I accept much has been done in recent years in regard to the treatment of cancer, more can be done. International studies show that an organised screening programme can result in a 20% to 30% reduction in mortality rates. The Minister said that by rolling out the programme to counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford he expects approximately 60 detections. If it was not rolled out, what would happen to the 60 women concerned? The fact that he is not rolling out the programme to other areas means cases will not be detected, and people may die. What is the cost of a life? The Minister should make rolling out the programme to the rest of the country a priority. I hope he has got a flavour of what we are saying – that this is an urgent matter. He can point to the money spent during the years but we expect that and more. This is about women's lives and the cost of a life.

I am in a privileged position because I live in Dublin. Senator O'Meara, who lives in County Tipperary, does not have access to that level of service. How can we deny women this? Why should women living in Dublin be in a privileged position? Women living in counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford will now be lucky to have access to the service. The Minister said it takes 22 months to roll out the programme. Therefore, when will the rest of the country have access to it? Is he now beginning to establish units in the BMW region and the south? We are afraid it could take up to five years before the other units are in place. How many lives will be lost in the meantime? We cannot afford to wait.

We must ensure the necessary clinicians are in place to provide the service, including radiographers, surgeons and pathologists. The fact that they were not available was a problem in recent years. We must ensure they are trained and appointed in the next couple of years.

I support the motion and ask the Government parties to do likewise. We want to extend the service to every woman in the country. I do not understand the reason the Government parties will not support and work with us on the motion.