Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to the House. I am delighted he is present to consider this important matter with respect to the permanent appointment to Letterkenny General Hospital, first, of a consultant breast surgeon. Currently there is an interim appointment of an acting surgeon on a temporary basis. Second, there is an identified need for a consultant colorectal surgeon as there is a vacancy in that position. Third, there is a great need for a permanent consultant radiation oncologist. Currently, a surgeon from St. Luke's Hospital attends Letterkenny General Hospital one day per week.

I will expand a little on the issue of breast cancer services at Letterkenny General Hospital. In light of the O'Higgins report, there is a need to centralise services as a consequence of demographics, which is a quite natural economic assumption. At the same time, however, a county such as Donegal, with a border extending 144 miles from Ballyshannon to Malin Head, is a very extensive, peripheral and isolated county, and it is very much the desire of the people of Donegal to hold on to regionalised services. The consultants, medical and administrative staff of Letterkenny General Hospital and the people of Donegal are not looking at Letterkenny in isolation. They are looking at an east-west scenario between Altnagelvin and Letterkenny and also north-south between Letterkenny and Sligo.

A think-tank is examining many of these issues, including the retention of cancer services in Letterkenny General Hospital. The local community and the hospital staff are working to ensure that cancer services are not depleted, centralised and moved away from the region.

I am delighted to raise this issue in the presence of the Minister of State because the Donegal action for cancer services group, which recently formed in the county, has been fighting for action on a consistent basis over the past year. This lobby group must be taken seriously as it represents the entire Donegal community from Malin Head to Ballyshannon.

The cornerstone of the issue is bed capacity. There has been considerable procrastination on the part of Government and the Department of Health and Children in expediting the bed capacity at Letterkenny General Hospital. There is a magical formula of 70 extra beds, which will result in extra medical beds and an enlarged accident and emergency department. An interim solution would involve the provision of 30 to 40 extra beds, representing an increase of 10% on the existing 300 beds. Increased bed capacity in Letterkenny will justify the demands made for extra surgeons. Staff at administrative, consultant and nursing levels have lobbied for this but are becoming tired of shouting. A regional approach is needed so that County Donegal can retain services. Fears exist that the downgrading of services will impinge on the welfare and health of the people of County Donegal.

I ask the Minister of State to endeavour to ensure that the people of County Donegal do not have to endure any further downgrading or take second best in terms of cancer treatment services. I ask him to listen to the people and, as a matter of urgency, make contact with the HSE about their concerns.