Jimmy Devins (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to have this opportunity to speak on this important issue, the provision of the BreastCheck screening programme on a national basis. Unfortunately, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in Ireland. Latest statistics show that more than 600 women die from this disease every year. This is far too high a figure and it is unacceptable that so many should die from this condition.

BreastCheck is a free screening service that was established in 1998. It is targeted at women between 50 and 64 years of age. This is the group most at risk from developing breast cancer. For some time I have advocated the roll-out of BreastCheck to the remainder of Ireland, that is, mainly to the west and the south. It is noteworthy that the all-party Joint Committee on Health and Children supported this position when members of the BreastCheck management team appeared before it recently.

I welcome the capital investment of €21 million approved for the construction of the two new units in Galway and Cork. The unit in Galway will be serviced by two mobile units that will cover the whole of the west, including Sligo and Leitrim. I ask the Minister for Health and Children to continue to apply pressure on the HSE to ensure the rapid provision of these units in Galway and Cork.

It is important that women throughout Ireland have available a free mammography service. Since it has been shown by repeated studies that the early diagnosis of breast cancer is facilitated by the use of BreastCheck, this facility must be made available to all women in the relevant age group as soon as possible. That decision has been made politically; it is now imperative that the HSE puts in place the necessary infrastructure. There must not be any administrative or bureaucratic delays.

I will comment on two other screening programmes which are important. Cervical cancer can be easily diagnosed by a simple test, called the Papanicolaou smear. The rapid roll-out of this screening programme will result in a substantial reduction in mortality from this serious cancer. It should be put in place as soon as possible.

A growing problem for men is the increasing occurrence of prostatic cancer. This, in many ways, is a very silent killer and one which has only recently begun to get the publicity it deserves. It can be diagnosed by a simple blood test. I ask the Minister to examine the feasibility of putting in place a screening programme to ensure that both of these silent killers can be arrested as soon as possible.

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