Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in such a positive way. I reassure the House that the Government recognises the value of BreastCheck and the importance for Irish women of its continued success. BreastCheck is the national breast screening programme and it offers screening mammograms every two years to eligible women. It has been running since 2000 and since then has performed more than 1.5 million mammograms and has diagnosed more than 11,500 cancers. It has saved thousands of lives and continues to do so. Therefore, the issues raised yesterday must be noted by the Government. We need to remind people, however, just how important BreastCheck and other screening programmes are. Screening is not diagnosis but it is certainly a way of finding and exposing early signs of the onset of cancer, thereby allowing for early treatment that can save lives.

It is important to reinforce the point that BreastCheck statistics are impressive by international standards. The programme is working. We need to learn lessons from recent weeks regarding the obligation of the State to ensure that information flow is appropriate and proper and that women can gain access to information when they want it. I understand that the comments made on BreastCheck have been reassuring in terms of the commitments made and the lessons learned.

On the legal issues that are of concern, the Taoiseach has set up a working group to examine tort law in respect of medical litigation. We will, of course, await the outcome of the review. We have asked Dr. Scally to examine our screening programmes generally, in addition to CervicalCheck, in his work to ensure we correct the wrongs of the past in regard to CervicalCheck and the information flow that should have happened but did not.

I wish to provide reassurance that, as far as we can see, BreastCheck is performing really well and saving lives, and it will continue to do so. The reviews of disclosure that are taking place will, of course, ensure we learn lessons from the past and that women have information available to them to which they are entitled.

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