Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The cancer plan is not in a shambles and the radiotherapy plan has not been removed from the public private partnership process. The construction stage will be carried out in the traditional manner and the linear accelerator element will be carried out through the public private partnership. This is because the money has been allocated in the capital plan, which was done for reasons of speed to meet the timeframe of 2011.

As for the roll-out, the buildings will be handed over in September and commissioned three weeks later, which suggests a date in late September or October. I am uncertain when in September the hand-over will take place. That has always been the date and I have never given another. However, to advance screening, approval was given for mobile units. A mobile unit will begin work in the west in April. A staffing issue has arisen with regard to the mobile unit in the south. It is more difficult to obtain key staff for mobile units because they are farther away from base and it is still a challenge. Recently, I had a meeting with BreastCheck on this matter. If memory serves me correctly, once the roll-out begins in a region, which will be April in this case, it takes approximately two years to roll it out to the entire population of the region. This was the timeframe in Dublin and other areas for full roll-out.

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