Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I know that. However, I got the impression that other parties were peopled with caring women and that Fianna Fáil had uncaring men and no caring women.

The debate has been interesting because we all want the best of everything immediately, including in the health service. It would be ideal if every woman in the land could be screened immediately to the highest standard. However, we do not operate in an ideal world. We must work within a health budget which has doubled since 1987 and within resources which must be applied to various areas. I was amazed when I discovered how much was spent on cancer services since 1997 and how much continues to be spent. We must acknowledge this fact. BreastCheck is one of a range of services being provided. The Minister listed others which are very worthwhile. He is aiming towards the introduction of BreastCheck in different areas.

The fact that we cannot rub a magic lamp to make these services appear in every part of Ireland tomorrow does not mean that the Minister, Deputy Martin, is not concerned about the health of women, which is at the centre of this debate. What Minister for Health and Children – male or female – would deliberately withhold a cancer service if it could be made available? That is a stark way of putting it, but the motion tabled by the Labour Party leads one to believe that the Minister or the Government decided not to extend BreastCheck facilities, which is not the case.

The Government is committed to providing a comprehensive range of health services, including BreastCheck facilities, centres of excellence and GPs throughout the country available for consultation. I admit that the provision of health services is not ideal and that further facilities could be made available, but the Government's policy is to increase the level of service and expertise.

I welcome this debate. We may not have heard the facts given to us by the Minister if it had not been held. I appreciate that many of the statistics he detailed are available elsewhere, but it is good they have been correlated.