Peter Callanan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, to the House. Earlier the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, asked the House to commend the Government for its positive and demonstrable commitment to cancer services and I do so. I spoke here a few years ago on the topic of cancer. Normally I do not go outside my brief of agriculture. However, cancer and I are friends, and have visited each other. I have had three attacks of cancer and because of this experience I take some interest in the matter.

When I spoke four years ago I said I was not interested in excuses. I wanted funding provided for the service. In 1989 I had the experience of radiotherapy unit that broke down and took six months to replace. The people from Cork were bussed to Dublin. It cost more to bus the people from Cork to Dublin than it cost to buy the unit. However, as Senators know, the units are not available off the shelf.

I recognise what has been done since 1996, when the then Minister for Health, Deputy Noonan, recognised the need to do something about cancer. Since then great progress has been made. A Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland is a fine document, which is beautifully written and reads well. However, did any of those experts who wrote the document ever sit in a queue for radiotherapy? Do they know how it feels to be on a terminally-ill line? By and large the answer is "No". If they need such treatment they have much more ready access to it than the ordinary people like us.

I have reason to congratulate the Government and support its efforts. I welcome the extension of radiotherapy treatment to Waterford and Limerick, which regions had previously been overlooked. Senator Scanlon spoke about the north west. The people of the north west deserve a service and are just as entitled to it as the people in any other region. Making arrangements with Belfast for those in the north west is fine. However, it comes back to how it feels for the person in the queue for cancer treatment. It is a lonely place and they need the support of their families and friends. They should not be isolated. From a psychological point of view, it is easily understood why I say that we should give to the north west that to which it is entitled.

Regarding BreastCheck for women between the ages of 50 and 64, a body of opinion believes that screening service should take place before 50 and after 64.