Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

My agenda is to ensure that the services we provide are as quality assured as possible. This is why, with regard to the cancer control programme, we are putting in place eight designated centres. Notwithstanding that expert advice from Ireland and overseas recommends this, there is considerable opposition to it in this House and around the country. Only last week I met a group of people from the north west who strongly oppose the service being moved from their local hospital. With regard to breast cancer, all of the evidence from cancer experts in Ireland and elsewhere shows that unless a centre has at least 150 new cases per year, two specialist breast surgeons, two specialist pathologists and two specialist radiologists, a quality-assured service, which improves outcomes for women by up to 25%, cannot be provided. This means that while five out of five women may survive in a specialist centre only four out of five will survive in a non-specialist centre.

We know the facts in the case of Edel Kelly. A clinical correlation was recommended but did not happen and there was no multidisciplinary approach to her case.

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