David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I commend Deputy Twomey on bringing forward this motion and I am delighted to see the Tánaiste here listening to what Deputies have to say on the matter. Last week, I attended the funeral of a young woman. The House must excuse me if I become emotional about this because the woman was 41 years of age and had three small children. She fought breast cancer for three years and as I looked at her in her coffin, I thought to myself that she should not be there. The real tragedy and crime is that she never got a chance because there was no screening service where she lived in the south. This service was promised but it was never introduced. When I saw the woman's three very young children, they were numb and did not really know what was going on. I spoke to her brother-in-law today and he asked me why the Government appeared to be on another planet with regard to the extension of BreastCheck. He was bewildered that the Government did not appear to see the need for the service. I am not saying this man's sister-in-law would have lived if BreastCheck had been available to her but it could have made an enormous difference if her cancer had been detected early on. This is a life-and-death issue for women and their families. Our wives, mothers or sisters could be at risk. We are asking the Government to move quickly to ensure that women throughout the country have a chance.

Cork, which is the second largest city in the country, has no cancer screening service. In addition, cancer services in Cork are very poor. Doctors and nurses involved in cancer services in Cork are under terrible pressure, so much so that one medical oncologist, Dr. Oscar Breathnach, resigned because of the pressure. I raised the case recently on the Adjournment. We can see adults suffering greatly from cancer but it is so much more heart-rending to see a child with cancer. Professor Kearney from Mercy Hospital is retiring shortly but there does not appear to anyone to replace him. I raised the issue in the form of a parliamentary question but received a response from the Department that indicated that there was some form of bureaucratic problem involved in recruiting someone to replace him. This is not acceptable. When someone like ProfessorKearney retires, he should be replaced straight away. His retirement was flagged long ago so there was sufficient time to choose his successor.

The Government has been in office for eight years, during which we have had a booming economy. There is no reason the money should not have been put into these services. I do not wish to be cynical but medical cards were supplied to people over 70. While I do not begrudge them that, there were votes to be gained from such a measure. Did the Government carry out some kind of focus group test and decide there were no votes to be gained from providing cancer screening? People from my part of the country have sought cancer screening for a very long time. When the Tánaiste responds to my comments, she should explain why BreastCheck has not been extended to Cork. She should tell us the reason for the delay in rolling out the programme. The people of Cork deserve an answer. This issue is beyond politics; it is a matter of life and death. Young women, in particular, suffer needlessly. The Tánaiste has our support on this but she must act quickly.

See this speech in context