Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

If a woman in County Clare has concerns, what procedure should she follow? If she had a test carried out during the period in question and is worried that the results may not have been accurate, should she contact her GP in order to obtain a referral?

The second matter I wish to raise relates to a question posed by Deputy Breen to which a reply was not given. I refer to the announcement by Professor Keane that routine mammograms would not be carried out at centres of excellence and that women would have to be referred by their GPs when it was established that symptoms were present. There are families in which there is a history of breast cancer. In the region in which I live, women cannot access mammography services of any kind unless symptoms are present. That is causing a great deal of distress in areas — I refer her to Clare and five or six other counties — where BreastCheck is not in operation.

Will the Minister request that the position in this regard be reviewed? I am aware of cases where three or four sisters in particular families died as a result of breast cancer and where a surviving sister who does not have symptoms wants to have a mammogram carried out in order that she might be reassured. It is cruel that such women cannot avail of routine mammograms. Even if one manages to scrape the money together, I understand that, since the closure of the Barrington's service, one cannot avail of a mammogram in the mid-west region.

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