Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I very much welcomed the opportunity, last night, to speak on cancer services. It was an opportunity for the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to put forward the Government's policy, as well. Good arguments were made. An obvious one was that where specialised cancer services are required there has to be a critical mass of expertise, knowledge and skills. That is acceptable and we must live in the real world, when that is the case. However, we cannot use peripherality as an excuse for not locating cancer services in particular areas. There is a very active group in my area, known as the Donegal Action for Cancer Care group. The people who underpin that group have suffered cancer in the past. They are the people who know, and who have suffered the arduous journey from Donegal to Dublin, sometimes taking seven hours. They argue that cancer services are needed in our area.

I know Senator Norris has difficulty with this because he has argued before that there cannot be cancer services, willy-nilly, all over the country. However, the people of the north west do not just include Donegal. They also live in counties Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Donegal and Sligo. Senator Scanlon flew the flag for Sligo yesterday. There is a critical mass of population to justify a single satellite service facility in the north west. If there are radiotherapy services in Dublin and units proposed for Waterford, Limerick, Cork and Galway, we still have to look at the north west region.

People are talking about trains not being on time. The people in the north west do not have a train from Letterkenny to Dublin. We cannot even make the argument about poor punctuality when it comes to train services. Those who underpin a campaign group dealing with concerns over cancer services being downgraded in the north west are shouting out loud that they want facilities near them because they do not want to engage in arduous journey times of up to seven hours from Letterkenny to Dublin.

As legislators, we have a duty to listen to them and take on board their viewpoints.

Yesterday, the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, indicated that the Government will not be sporadically putting satellite cancer service units all over the country. What is the Government policy on locating a specialised radiotherapy unit in the north west? The people in the Donegal Action for Cancer Care group and cancer sufferers will want nothing less than services in their own region.