Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

With a few short words, I express the concerns of the people of Cobh, who are currently reading a recent study by the National Cancer Registry of Ireland indicating that the rates of prostate cancer there are 71% higher than the national average, with female breast cancer incidence 38% above the norm.

The people of Cobh are very concerned. While he is in the House, I congratulate my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton, on his new position. I know he has spoken on this issue and expressed concern about it in the past.

I raise this issue because when the National Cancer Registry was asked for a reason that the rates are higher in Cobh, it stated that it could be down to the issue of social deprivation. I do not believe that is a proper answer when asked a question of that nature. We know that Cobh is a town with a history of heavy industry, that there is a remediation programme going on at the moment in an area in which heavy industry is no longer located and that the Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring the pharmaceutical or pharmachem industries in the lower harbour areas. However, we do not have actual clean air monitoring at specific reference points throughout the Cobh area and there is no live reporting to the public.

It could be beneficial if a baseline study were instigated for Cobh and a full investigation could be carried out. This could be done without necessarily putting an extra charge on the Exchequer because there is a number of stakeholders, such as GPs and UCC, in particular, which have addressed the strategic policy committee of Cork County Council, that is, the environment committee. The department of chemistry and the environmental research unit have stated that they would be happy to conduct studies in this area. It is an issue that affects every family in Cobh. Professor Colin Bradley, a professor of general practice, stated recently: "I've seen more cancers in surprisingly young people than I would in previous practices". He is referring specifically to Cobh. I believe it is an issue that is worthy of further investigation. I do not accept the social deprivation answer that has been given by the National Cancer Registry. We laud the work it does but we need some empirical evidence. It would appear that there is an intergenerational increase in the rate of cancer, not only prostate and female breast cancer, but also in other areas.

I am asking the Minister at least to consider facilitating some stakeholder engagement on this issue. I am not necessarily looking for a cheque for a baseline study but if we can get a favourable response from the Minister to the idea of putting together some sort of stakeholder group involving UCC, which has stated that it would be willing at least to partake in further studies on this issue, then we could seek to deliver something for the people in Cobh, who are gravely concerned about the matter. I am asking the Minister to have an open mind. I will leave him with one metric. If one looks at the 1994 to 2007 figures, the urban area of Cobh had a 37% higher incidence than other parts of the country. That would mean that within that timeframe, someone in Cobh was diagnosed with cancer every 11 days. I thank the Acting Chairman and hope I will receive a favourable reply.

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