Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, Senator Comiskey, commented earlier on the withdrawal of mammography services in Sligo General Hospital, but that is not the full story. Breast cancer is not a issue that should be politicised but it saddens me to say that the parties in this Government politicised the issue from the moment they embarked on the campaign trail seeking votes in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency. A succession of Fine Gael and Labour Party spokespersons promised the people of the north west that mammography services would be restored to Sligo following the restructuring of cancer services in this country, a decision incidentally which was taken by a previous Minister in a Fianna Fáil-led Administration which was bitterly opposed by those of us in the north west at the time.

One only has to look at the map of Ireland to see where cancer services are located and if one draws a line from Dublin to Galway North, one will see that there is none. It was obvious, once the restructuring by the Health Service Executive in recent years took place which resulted in the service in Sligo being part of a western group dominated by the service in Galway, that inevitably services would be sucked into Galway.

This morning Ocean FM carried the story and featured one of the cancer survivors, a member of the action group that has been fighting for many years for cancer services to be provided in Sligo General Hospital, which would benefit the entire north-western region. I appreciate that this may be seen as a local issue, but it is directly affecting people's lives. There was an air of resignation about the lady in question this morning when she spoke to Niall Delaney having had a meeting yesterday with the chief executive of the Ireland west hospital group who bluntly said mammography services would not be restored to Sligo General Hospital and that those who had been diagnosed with cancer and required follow-up treatment would have to make the long trek to Galway, which service is already overcrowded and the staff of which have been protesting about the increase in demand that will inevitably follow for mammography services. I appreciate that this issue was decided at HSE level, but Fine Gael and the Labour Party made it a political one. This morning Ocean FM played a clip of the former Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, saying money was not an issue and that mammography services would be restored to Sligo General Hospital. He was followed by my colleague, Senator Susan O'Keeffe, who made the exact same comment. That is what they have been saying to the people of the north west.

I am asking for the Minister for Health to come into the House to outline the background and explain context of this outrageous decision that will have life-threatening effects and I am not trying to be dramatic. I am echoing the views of those who have been fighting this case and the last thing I want to do is politicise it, but the Government has done so. I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business that the Minister for Health come to the House today to explain to the people of the north west, particularly those who will have to experience the long trek to Galway at enormous expense, causing personal distress-----