Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

I thank and congratulate Deputy Twomey for tabling this apt and timely motion. One of the most serious broken promises inflicted on the public by this Government has been the failure to implement their promise to have the national BreastCheck programme operational throughout the country by 2005. Every year, 640 women die from breast cancer in this country. However, last month the Tánaiste stated that the national extension of the BreastCheck scheme will not be in place until 2007, rather than 2005 as was initially promised.

In my constituency, I have a difficulty with the situation whereby there may be two women who have the same risk factors for breast cancer. As one women lives on one side of a road and consequently happens to be in County Westmeath, she can get BreastCheck on demand. However, because the other woman lives on the other side of the white line in the middle of the road, she will not get a service until 2008 at the earliest. This is the reality. It is hugely disappointing that a woman is discriminated against because of her geographical location. Why have the BreastCheck organisation and the Department of Health and Children been at odds over the timescale for the delivery of the extension?

In the meantime, 58,000 women in the west within the target population are currently being ignored. Last week, I received a telephone call from a constituent, who is in a high-risk category and who was referred by her GP to Galway for a mammogram. When there, she was told to return to her GP and get a referral to see a consultant first, before she would be considered for a mammogram. This is the reality of what is happening. The woman was treated like this because she comes from the wrong side of the River Shannon. Geography should not dictate health priorities. Of the 58,000 women who are eligible for the service in the west, approximately one sixth are from County Roscommon.

Deputy Twomey has highlighted that if the breast screening service was implemented properly, the lives of 55 women per year could be saved. At least 110 women will lose their lives because of this delay. That estimate is based on a timetable that remains aspirational. We still have the missed deadlines, mixed signals and misleading promises from the Government as to when the implementation will actually happen. It provides a clear indication of the disarray within the Government regarding planning. To give an example, in September 2004, the former Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, announced that €20 million was being allocated for the capital investment that was required in both Cork and Galway to put the BreastCheck service in place. In December 2004, BreastCheck submitted proposals to draw down that capital investment to the Department of Health and Children. However, it is still waiting for the approval of the plans so that it can place an advertisement in the EU Journal in order to proceed and have the design proposals submitted and construction commenced. For four months, the Department has not made a decision on its proposals. BreastCheck's chief executive has made it quite clear that at the minimum, it will take two years from the date of approval to get the screening programme up and running. We are planning for two years from now and the clock is ticking because it has taken the Department four months to make a decision. We are still unsure what the decision will be.

As far as the issue of cervical cancer is concerned, I too am annoyed by the fact that there is not a national roll-out. However, I am more annoyed by the fact that while we do not have breast screening in County Roscommon we used to have cervical screening. There used to be a service provided in the county on a quarterly basis, but it was withdrawn one year ago. There is no service in place now because we were informed that the national service would be put in place. Consequently, the former Western Health Board withdrew the service that was already in place. In the meantime, women have been denied the service, which has worsened rather than improved. It has become progressively worse over the last 12 months. There is an 80% reduction in cervical cancer where screening is put in place. It is about time we prioritised these issues and began to invest. I ask the Tánaiste to provide approval for such funding.

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