Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy James Reilly for raising this important issue and congratulate him on his presentation. With more than 22,000 new cancer patients registered each year and more than 7,000 deaths, proper research, early diagnosis and proper treatment must be our goals regardless of party or politics. I have no objection to centres of excellence, which may, in the long term, offer the best results, but we cannot remove the services already under pressure until we have proper new ones in place. We were told by the Minister, Deputy Mary Harney, that she would not remove any services until this was achieved.

The promises the Minister made two years ago are clearly in shreds and there is no reason we should believe her in respect of the newly proposed strategy and its frightening consequences. The only part of the so-called strategy about which we are sure is that 13 hospitals treating patients at present will be stopped from doing so without making alternative services available. Unfortunately, three of these, Louth County Hospital, Cavan General Hospital and Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, are in the north-eastern region.

One lady had to wait 12 months for a simple breast check although her family history was very serious. How much longer will others have to wait? Further to the Minister's announcement, it is clear that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda will not have any service in the longer term, meaning that people from north Monaghan and west Cavan will have to travel 100 miles or more to get a test. There are no railroads in that area. The Minister may not be aware that we do not have public transport services. Clearly, circumstances are even worse in areas such as Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. Patients in these counties must depend on Belfast City Hospital.

Every day of every week we hear of more cases of cancer. If I had time, I could list cases in which there was a failure to make a diagnosis on time, thus leading to early death. It is very easy to claim that results are better in bigger hospitals but, as we know clearly in County Monaghan, the history under this Government is that deaths outside the hospital do not matter because the Minister and HSE can deny responsibility.

The Minister promised that the cancer network would be delivered by 2011 but a review of the project has found it is unlikely to be delivered before 2015. Meanwhile there are huge gaps in the availability of services. For instance, prostate cancer patients must sometimes wait up to five months for radiotherapy.

For many patients who have received successful treatment in the existing hospitals, including Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and Tallaght Hospital, the winding down of services is a disgrace. Can we believe the approach of the Government? Where health is concerned, it is certain that we cannot. The Minister is a total failure.

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