Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for Health for taking this issue and my colleague, Deputy O'Donnell, for raising it. BreastCheck, which is the national free screening programme for breast cancer, currently extends to women aged between 50 and 64 years of age. It is a fantastic programme.

The only figures available to me are from 2012 but I assume that the figures for last year and this year are similar. During 2012, some 183,632 women were invited to partake in a breast screening procedure and 71.4% of eligible women accepted the invitation. This was in excess of the 70% figure set as a target for the programme. The lives of thousands of women have been saved by BreastCheck.

Unfortunately, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Ireland. A woman has a one in ten chance of developing breast cancer but early detection is key to dealing with it. This is why women from the age of 50 years are eligible for the programme. I recognise that we must operate under budgetary constraints and that a bracket has to be put on eligibility but given that one in ten incidents of breast cancer occur among women aged between 65 and 69 years, we need to reconsider the age limits. Death rates from breast cancer are second highest in the 60 to 69 years age group. The programme for Government promised to extend the free screening service to women aged between 65 and 69 years. I ask the Minister to ensure this is done at the earliest opportunity.

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