James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies McEntee and O'Donnell for raising this important issue and I welcome the opportunity to speak to it. BreastCheck, the national breast screening programme, currently offers a mammogram every two years to women aged 50 to 64. This service is provided free of charge by the HSE through its national screening services, and BreastCheck is now in its 15th year of screening, having provided 964,000 mammograms to 409,000 women. Approximately 6,350 cancers have been detected through this programme. Deputies are well aware of the budgetary restraints under which we must operate but I can confirm it is my intention to extend the upper age range for BreastCheck to include the 65-69 age cohort as soon as possible in line with available resources.

A priority of the BreastCheck programme is to maximise national uptake in the 50-64 age cohort. As outlined in the recently published 2012 and 2013 BreastCheck report, 71.4% of eligible women invited for screening accepted their invitation, which is in excess of the programme target of 70%. However, acceptance rates for those invited for the first time have fallen to 66.4% and this is a matter of some concern. In the light of these figures I welcome the current BreastCheck advertising campaign, which aims to boost uptake rates. I realise we all lead busy lives these days but I call on women to take the time to do something very important for themselves by availing of invitations to have mammograms. At a minimum this will give some peace of mind but it might just be crucial in identifying cancers at an early and more easily treatable stage.

Breast screening is one element of our comprehensive cancer control programme and as part of its work across the full range of cancers, the HSE's national cancer control programme provides symptomatic breast clinics in each of the eight cancer centres, with a further satellite clinic in Letterkenny. Breast cancer survival in Ireland has improved significantly in recent years due to a combined approach of screening, symptomatic detection and improved treatment. Five-year survival for breast cancer is now estimated at almost 85% for people diagnosed between 2005 and 2009. This is a most encouraging figure, indicating a significant improvement from 75.1% for people diagnosed between 1994 and 1999. I very much welcome the progress being made, not just to the benefit of the people directly concerned but also to their families, loved ones and wider communities.

BreastCheck is aimed at the cohorts most at risk but breast cancer services are available for all women. Those of any age who have concerns about breast cancer should seek the advice of their GP, who will, if appropriate, refer them to the symptomatic breast services in a designated specialist cancer centre. Screening should never be taken as a substitute for attending a doctor if there is a health concern related to breast changes or other issues.

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