Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I will take the Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. On her behalf and my own, I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this matter, to address the Deputies' concerns and to clarify the situation with regard to the national roll-out of BreastCheck.

The National Breast Screening Board was established in 1998 as a specialist agency with the sole remit of providing Ireland's first quality assured population based breast screening programme, BreastCheck, for women aged 50 to 64. Governance of BreastCheck was transferred to the board of the National Cancer Screening Service on its establishment in January 2007.

BreastCheck provides free mammograms to women aged 50 to 64, sequentially on an area by area basis every two years. BreastCheck began offering free breast screening to women aged 50 to 64 in the then Eastern Regional Health Authority and North Eastern and Midland Health Boards areas in February 2000, nine years ago. Screening was extended to Wexford, Kilkenny and Carlow between 2004 and 2006.

In December 2007, construction of two new static units, the BreastCheck western unit in Galway and the BreastCheck southern unit in Cork, was completed and screening began from both units in counties Cork and Galway in December 2007. These two static units, together with eight mobile digital units, will provide screening to more than 144,000 eligible women aged 50 to 64 in the south and west of the country.

Since December 2007, the BreastCheck service has been extended to nine of the 12 counties in the south and west, these being Mayo, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary and Waterford. The completion of the national roll-out with the extension of BreastCheck to the remaining counties will proceed in 2009.

The Government decided to introduce a moratorium on recruitment across the public service, with effect from 27 March 2009 to end in 2010. However, certain posts in the health sector may be filled, including medical consultants. The focus on these key grades is in line with existing Government policy on the prioritisation of certain development areas for which significant funding has already been provided.

Contrary to what has been said regarding an announcement that BreastCheck will not be rolled out in Donegal, there has been no such announcement. In fact, I am very pleased to confirm that BreastCheck will be extended as planned to Donegal, Leitrim and Clare.

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