Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. As numerous Deputies have said, there is barely a household breast cancer has not affected, not to mention their extended families. I worked in cancer diagnostics for years. There is no screening programme for many cancers but there is one for breast cancer because we have a very good diagnostic tool and an effective treatment in many cases. That provides us with a great opportunity and we must make the most of that opportunity. Numerous Deputies spoke about Covid, the cyberattack and the impact that has had. It is really important that we get back on track and, in fact, go beyond. Participation rates in the national cancer programme, the centres of excellence and the various screening programmes have fluctuated. Some of that relates to resources while some relates to capacity. We need to strive to continue to improve and I am sure the Minister of State will want to do likewise.

A number of Deputies spoke about raising awareness, as we are doing with this debate, and reiterating the call to people to attend their appointments for screening. We also need to understand why people are not attending and whether there are patterns within that. That would be of benefit. We also need to consider extending the scheme to younger age cohorts.

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