Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for her very passionate words as a cancer survivor. It is so important that the Senator, through her role, highlights these concerns. It is great to see her doing so well today. We all know how cancer can affect families. There is not a family in Ireland that has not been affected in some way by cancer. I thank her for her advocacy and hope that her health will be brilliant. She is doing a very good job, for which I thank her.

Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer among women in Ireland and accounts for 32% of all invasive cancers diagnosed in women.One in seven Irish women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Early detection improves survival rates, allows for less invasive management and enhances quality of life for patients.

Symptomatic breast disease, SBD, rapid-access clinics are run in each of the eight designated cancer centres and in one networked centre. Each year approximately 45,000 women are seen in these clinics and this figure is increasing year on year. That is a concern, as the Senator said. The SBD clinics triage referrals according to symptoms, with patients triaged as either urgent or non-urgent. HSE key performance indicators, KPIs, set out that urgent referrals are to be offered an appointment within ten working days, while non-urgent referrals are to be offered an appointment within 12 weeks. I will highlight this to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and ask what we can do to improve it. Everything to do with breast care is about timing.

The HSE advises that when breast cancer is suspected, diagnosis in the breast clinic is made by triple assessment consisting of a clinical assessment, which is an exam; a scan; and a biopsy. Not all patients who attend SBD clinics require triple assessment. Within SBD clinics, referrals are triaged by clinicians and where a triple assessment is deemed necessary, the timing of these tests is determined by clinical concern. It is all clinician-led.

With regard to the matter raised by the Senator, the HSE has a KPI monitoring compliance with the target that breast imaging clinical requests - that is, mammography or ultrasound - for new patients should be carried out within 12 weeks of the consultant surgeon’s assessment in the specialist clinic. National compliance with this KPI for the last 12 months on a rolling basis is 90%.

For urgent patients attending a triple assessment clinic, this imaging is frequently completed on the same day as the clinic. The Early Diagnosis of Symptomatic Cancer Plan 2022-2025, which has been extended to 2027, emphasises the need to continually identify and address health-system factors that affect the timeliness of diagnoses. That is crucial. The national cancer control programme monitors progress on this data on a regular basis.

Advances in cancer detection and treatment have been achieved through sustained investment in our health services. In budget 2025, an additional €23 million was secured for the national cancer strategy. This means over €105 million has been invested in the strategy since 2017, which has enabled the recruitment of over 670 staff to our national cancer services.

The Government remains committed to the implementation of the national cancer strategy and to continuing to build on improvements to services and better outcomes for patients.