Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. It is great to see him. It is the first time I have had the privilege of speaking to him in the Chamber. I am raising this Commencement matter on breast cancer services and cancer screening in general, which is of major concern to me. Currently, people are not being screened due to the restrictions, which is understandable, but they are not getting the cancer treatment they need. We must make certain that we as a Government ensure the resumption and continuation of cancer screening services and that the system is adequately resourced to allow us catch up on screening.

I raise this Commencement matter today specifically to highlight breast cancer screening and the fact that the national screening service, NSS, advises that the current round of screening, which is usually 24 months, potentially will take 36 months due to the impact of Covid-19. To highlight the prevalence of breast cancer, one in nine women in Ireland will be diagnosed with breast cancer. It is the second most prevalent cancer in the world. In 2016, 85,500 people in Europe died from breast cancer. It is a major concern of mine.

I am hearing from many women about the lack of capacity in the system. Some may choose to pay for it, and Senator Conway said that if you choose to pay, you can get the health service you need. This two-tier system is intolerable and highlights, as Senator Conway said also, the need for universal healthcare here. An individual's health should not be disadvantaged by his or her ability to pay. We need to examine the capacity of private screening because if you want private screening, you can get it within a week and not have to wait. We need to expand that private screening capacity for the benefit of public patients.

I have been working with Councillor Teresa Costello, who is a member of Dublin City Council. I commend her on her incredible work. She is a young woman who is a breast cancer survivor. She set up one of the largest support communities for breast cancer patients in the country called Breast Friends. She would like me to highlight on behalf of all the women in the country that more and more women are being diagnosed with breast cancer. Thirty per cent of all women who get a breast cancer diagnosis are between the ages of 20 and 50, 34% are between the ages of 50 and 69, and 36% are older than 70. As the Minister of State is aware, the screening is only for women between the ages of 50 and 69, which means we are missing and not screening 66% of breast cancer patients. I urge him to bring the message to the Minister that we need to expand that screening capacity to include women from the age of at least 40 and up.

I ask also that there would be a breast cancer awareness campaign to ensure every woman, younger and older, is empowered to check her breasts manually for signs of cancer. General practitioners might work with the Department to provide for that manual check and the automatic ability to get a mammogram if a woman is under 50 years of age, because if they have a concern, they are not automatically referred to BreastCheck. That is a real issue for me and for many women.I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could bring those notes back to the senior Minister on screen enhancement for all women, a manual check to be carried out by a GP, and an awareness campaign.