Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for sharing time. Every October, we receive a wealth of information about breast cancer, with people dressed in pink engaged in fundraising and celebrities speaking about their breast cancer experience, but we still see women arriving at clinics not knowing much at all about the disease. One in seven women in Ireland will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Due to Covid-19 measures, the screening programme is nearly a year behind. This is a devastating situation and we must do something about it. I welcome the Minister of State's commitment in this area, against the background of the major disruption that has taken place during the Covid crisis.

Awareness surrounding breast cancer is incredibly important because early detection, often through screening, can catch the disease when it is most treatable. If that early screening is not available, we have a massive problem. Breast cancer is the third most common cancer in Ireland. Sadly, between 2015 and 2017, an average of 719 women and five men died of breast cancer in this country. In terms of survival, National Cancer Registry data show that the probability of women diagnosed with breast cancer surviving for five years was more than 82% in the period from 2010 to 2014. International comparisons show Ireland has improved its ranking over time in terms of survival rates for a number of cancers but, as I understand it, this is not so much the case for breast cancer.

BreastCheck, the screening programme for breast cancer, is only open to women aged 50 to 69. Every year, approximately one third of all breast cancer cases diagnosed are detected through the programme. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in invitations for BreastCheck screening being suspended in March 2020. While all symptomatic breast disease clinics remained open and accepted referrals, they are operating with a reduced capacity. BreastCheck services resumed in October 2020 with reduced capacity due to Covid measures and there was a 69.6% reduction against expected activity. Fewer mammograms have been carried out in 2021 than would otherwise be the case. This is a concern, but I am delighted the Minister of State has given a commitment on funding, which will, we hope, see a return to a situation where as many mammograms as possible are carried out.

The national screening service has highlighted that we have lost nearly a year of screening, which I know the Minister of State has undertaken to rectify. We must enhance the BreastCheck service and encourage patients who have been afraid to ask about worrying symptoms to come forward for screening at a symptomatic breast disease clinic. In June this year, representatives of the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health that there is a growing backlog of patients waiting for urgent, time-critical diagnosis services and treatment services while, for reasons connected to the pandemic, life-saving screening services are falling below the annual targets. The full impact of the Covid-19 crisis on cancer care may be years away but we can do something now. We can increase investment in this area, which will enable us to have a meaningful awareness discussion.

I am one of the women aged over 50 who has been screened for breast cancer under the BreastCheck programme. It is a relief to be checked and it is important that all eligible persons who are called for screening avail of it. As the Minister of State said, there is always a fear around going for the scan. Like her, I encourage everyone who is called for BreastCheck screening to attend. In the long term, early intervention is key.

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