John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Following on from the Portlaoise reports we have the Minister and the HSE using the Portlaoise events to push their propaganda that the answer is the eight-centre model of cancer care. The Portlaoise reports do nothing to further the argument for the proposed model. If the science behind Professor Niall O'Higgins's report was rigorously applied, there would be just one breast cancer facility in Dublin. Let us end the farce that the proposed eight-centre model is the only valid model for cancer care in our country.

Last November, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland expressed concern that it is not intended to have any comprehensive cancer service north of a line from Galway to Dublin. The proposed removal of cancer care services from the midlands and Border counties runs totally counter to all the Government's talk of seeing the region as having an important cross-Border dimension. Speaking at the all-island economy conference in Dublin last week, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said mainstreaming North-South co-operation is a central part of Government policy. I again call on the Minister to explore the provision of cancer care services from Sligo General Hospital to patients from County Fermanagh. This is very important and the Minister said she would return to me on it. Will she tell this House the up-to-date position on the joint North-South feasibility study on the potential for future co-operation in health care?

Last week I received a copy of the results of a cancer care survey carried out by senior medical staff at Sligo General Hospital. This paper is available within the HSE. It clearly demonstrates that the outcomes for Sligo patients are identical or superior to those achieved in the United States. This is real, scientific evidence that Sligo General Hospital is already a centre of excellence. Again I challenge the Minister to respond clearly to this paper. The decision to close cancer care at Sligo General Hospital is political, not based exclusively on science. The decision ignores the cancer care needs of the population north of the line from Galway to Dublin. This is not acceptable. This is the most critical constituency issue in the last few decades. The voters of Sligo-Leitrim will not forget if it happens. I am totally dismayed by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Devins. I will not let the voters forget it either. North of a line from Galway to Dublin there is no service while there are four centres in Dublin. If the Minister is talking about eight centres of excellence why is there not a regional spread with one of the centres covering the border and midlands region? It is essential.

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