Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I, too, welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Máire Hoctor, and thank her for taking the debate. I welcome the representatives of the Irish Cancer Society in the Visitors Gallery. Two of the society's members, Ms Lorna Jennings and Ms Kathleen O'Meara, are very well known to Members of the House. They leave no stone unturned in chasing us up. If they do not get us in one way, they get us in another. It is fair to say that it was easy for them to gain access to Senators' offices as we are all singing from the one hymn sheet on this issue.

I first heard about the bowel cancer awareness campaign on the radio some days ago and was very impressed. I went home at the weekend and noted I had received the relevant documentation from the Irish Cancer Society. I brought it with me today because I believe that, if ever money was well spent, it was well spent on this. The brochure is very attractive and catches one's eye. There is red for danger and a balloon that would appeal to a child. One is immediately attracted to it. Senators will agree that we have plenty of expensive literature sent to our offices and we say it is a waste of money. Whatever was spent on this was well spent and I congratulate the Irish Cancer Society on it.

This is the first bowel cancer awareness month and, as Senator Fitzgerald pointed out, every year 900 people die from it. More than half of those diagnosed are at advanced stages, namely, stages 3 and 4. Sadly, only 42% of this group will survive. This is very sad because, like all cancers, if it is caught early it is treatable. This is why it is so important to have education and educators. I look on the Irish Cancer Society as the educators and I congratulate it on this.

October is breast cancer awareness month and November is lung cancer awareness month. Given that we know so much about breast cancer from the Irish Cancer Society, people are now less afraid than they used to be and women in particular, the minute they feel any abnormality to their breast, go to the doctor. What a shame there is such a stigma and almost an embarrassment around all cancers. We speak about it in hushed tones. If we discuss somebody who has died we ask whether it was the big C. We do not ask whether he or she died of cancer. There is fear in all of us when we speak about it and there should be because it is a killer. It knows no boundaries and it stops nowhere. It penetrates all classes, boundaries, countries and races.

I smiled when I saw Senator Feargal Quinn come in because until then three women Members of the Seanad were debating bowel cancer. When we debate prostate cancer there will probably be all women in the Chamber also. I state this with tongue in cheek because women speak about it more easily. Men do not like going to the doctor. Women do not like it either but they are more inclined to handle it, deal with it and speak about it.

Education is the key and we need to be informed. When I was researching this subject I saw that one in three people could not name any of the symptoms associated with bowel cancer. It is important to name them and I know when I do there will be blushes. They include change in bowel habits and bleeding from the back passage. They are not nice matters to speak about but we must speak about them. The symptoms also include a regular feeling of trapped wind in one's stomach, a feeling that one still has something to pass having gone to the loo, pain in one's tummy, ongoing tiredness and weight loss. Yes, we blush and it is a little embarrassing to name these, but that is ridiculous. What about them? In my office, my PA stated that it will be hard to say these words but I said that I would say them. Blushing never killed anybody but bowel and other cancers do. I would rather blush for Ireland than continue to have a disease that is not diagnosed on time.

How can we reduce the risk of getting cancer? One way is to know our family history because if a family member has had the disease it is more like that one will get it because it is in the genes. Unfortunately, only a year ago I lost a very close friend to bowel cancer. Her cancer was at stage 4 when it was diagnosed. It was horrific. Not a day goes by when I do not think of her. Everybody is affected by this. As she stated to me often, she thought she had an upset tummy. For about five weeks, she treated herself for an upset tummy. By the time she was diagnosed she had a secondary. She said that as she did not know about the primary how was she to know about the secondary. That is why today I say to hell with the blushes and the embarrassment, let us talk about this and make people aware.

It was with sadness and glee that I read the story of the Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen. A number of people stated to me that they did not know that he had bowel cancer and that it was great to be able to read about these matters. The same is the case with Bill O'Herlihy. We will reduce risks by examining diet and exercise. Nowadays we are all far too busy, but even 30 minutes a day of exercise would help. I never knew about pilates until a few months ago and now I think it is the greatest thing ever. Recently, I heard somebody state that the first thing an animal does when it gets up to move is to stretch. What do humans do? We get up, we crouch over and we hold our back or some part of us, and the older we get the more places we hold. Lifestyle and exercise are important as is eating the right foods such as fruit, vegetables and fibre and keeping fat intake low. Unfortunately, because it is in our nature we all like a little bit of fat. We all like chips and the rind on the rasher. It is endemic in us and what we were born into. It is part of our DNA.

We are all singing from the same hymn sheet on this matter and we will repeat much of what we found when we were researching. However, it is no harm to repeat it. Most cases are detected in those aged between 50 and 60 but one can be diagnosed before one reaches the age of 50. The Minister of State, Deputy Hoctor, stated that 55 is a common age for diagnosis. It is common in both genders and the breakdown is almost 50:50. In 2005, there were 48 cases in Sligo, where I live, which was 10% of the national figure. If 900 people die of it now it means the incidence is higher in every county.

The Government has moved on the waiting lists for colonoscopies. There should not be waiting lists and everybody, including the Minister of State, Deputy Hoctor, would agree with that. Nobody wants waiting lists and the sooner they are eradicated the better. Anybody waiting for more than one month should be referred to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. I say to consultants, practitioners and doctors, do not be afraid to refer people. The Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, stated that she would like to see colonoscopies carried out immediately someone goes to the doctor.

I know that the Government, including the Minister, and the Minister of State, Deputy Hoctor, are committed to breaking through the barriers and introducing various screening processes. I was glad to hear the Minister of State say that the report of HIQA's health technology assessment group is ready and perhaps we will hear about it in the near future.

When looking out for bower cancer we should take into account those in the 50 to 60 year old age group, family history, unhealthy lifestyle and heavy drinkers and smokers. I take my hat off to the Irish Cancer Society and I bow to the work it does. Without its valuable input we would not be where we are today. It should keep the pressure on. It is seeking a national screening programme for bowel cancer and I promise I will go every length of the way with it on this. Until we get this nothing can be done with regard to people with stage 3 and stage 4 cancer. We see the uptake for cervical and breast cancer screening. People are no longer afraid to speak about breast cancer. In the near future we will not be afraid to speak about cervical cancer. Neither will we be afraid to speak about bowel cancer, as unsavoury as it might be. Until that time comes, and it will come through screening, there will be no breakthrough in early detection. Early detection will lead to more cures and we will be curing more than we are today. We will not hear the stories of young women and men being cut down in the prime of their lives, families having to do without mothers and fathers and, in some cases, parents burying adult sons and daughters who have their own children.

We are all committed on this. In the same way that cancer knows no boundaries, no barriers and no differentiation between races, we in politics should not know any barriers on this. We should not fight it on a party political basis but should be united on it. We should all push for the early detection and early screening programmes.