Professor Arnold Hill:

I will make a comment on why I am here today. I started in BreastCheck 18 years ago. It is something of which this country should be proud. It is a fantastic service. It was funded well and was set up in a careful way. It has been externally validated over 18 years and receives the top mark from European accreditors every time.

My concern is that what has come to light about another screening programme over the past month has the potential to force the country to stop screening. BreastCheck has saved lives from breast cancer. It has been a fantastic programme. It is well run and everyone who has been involved is complimentary about it, but I am worried that the current situation will spiral out of control. We need the committee's support for introducing open disclosure in the balanced, careful and structured way that Professor O'Doherty discussed. The screening programme costs €40 million. If the State pays out €100 million in medical legal costs, the taxpayer will have to say "Stop the screening programme". That means women will die from breast cancer who do not need to. We have a great programme that is saving lives and doing well. I encourage the committee to try to ensure balance. BreastCheck is the best part of the Irish health service. Its quality assurance parameters are fantastic.

There is no need for me to tell members all of this. I work in the symptomatic service. BreastCheck is something that I am proud of, but I am worried as one of the clinicians involved that it could be destroyed for poor reasons. We require members to ensure there is a balanced opinion out there, the screening programme continues and women turn up for it. To make it justifiable, we need 70% of the women invited to turn up. It is good and will save lives. Please protect it.