Mildred Fox (Wicklow, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on breast and cervical cancer and our responsibility to ensure the incidence of both is reduced in all areas of the country. Every community in Ireland says goodbye to loved ones lost to cancer. Approximately one in 13 women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Irish women are three to four times more likely to die from breast cancer than many European neighbours, which is a sad reflection on the priority given to the health of Irish women.

My constituents are lucky in so far as they live in County Wicklow and are therefore eligible for the BreastCheck programme. Many women have been called twice for screening and are extremely appreciative of the service. Unfortunately it is not available countrywide and the cervical screening programme is not yet available in my area.

Early intervention is the key to reducing the number of cancer fatalities. All women, whether they are a wife, mother, sister or daughter, should have access to screening as a matter of course regardless of income or address.

At a time when political correctness has been imposed to the point of complete stupidity it seems acceptable to tell women over the age of 64 that we are not concerned enough to bother screening them. The Government collects taxes for women over the age of 64 but does not give them the same health services as their 63 year old sisters. The target age group for the BreastCheck programme must be reviewed and should also focus on high risk groups, such as relatives of women with breast cancer, and prioritise them for screening whether they are 25 or 75 years.

Support services for cancer patients and their families are extremely underfunded. A number of voluntary cancer support groups, such as the Bray Cancer Support Group in my area, provide an invaluable service to families affected by cancer. However, all too often these groups must fend for themselves in terms of funding and are left waiting until the last minute to see whether they will get Government assistance. No long-term plans can be made and this puts an unfair burden on voluntary organisations which carry out unseen work in every community which would not otherwise be done.

An Agreed Programme for Government recognises the need for people in all parts of the country to have reasonable access to cancer services and aims to ensure the achievement of this objective. In that vein, I urge the Minister to ensure all obstacles are removed and that the full roll-out of these important programmes happens as soon as possible.

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