Health Screening Programmes
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Natasha Newsome Drennan (SF), Carlow-Kilkenny

In little over a week we will mark the beginning of cancer awareness month. This should be a time when we can talk about the great progress being made in fighting cancer across the State. While progress is being made in some areas, which is positive and should be strongly welcomed, the national target for mammograms has been missed for a third consecutive year, and not by any small amount; it has been missed by 46,000. That is 46,000 women who should have been scanned. While the numbers of those being scanned are reaching record highs, we must ask why these targets are being missed by such a vast amount. If breast cancer is detected at stage 1, 99% of women will survive but survival drops to 37% if detected at stage 4. Data suggests that nearly one third of women are not getting breast cancer surgery in time. Women's lives should not be a statistic. These delays are crippling families with the fear of the unknown and reducing survival rates. University Hospital Waterford's webpage states that the hospital "provides a high quality service which addresses all aspects of care for women affected by breast cancer". Therefore, what is happening? Have there been cutbacks in the hospital? What multi-annual investment in cancer care will be seen to address demand and to prevent these backlogs increasing? Behind each and every one of these figures is a mother, a daughter, a sister and a grandmother. The devastation to families caused by failures to detect breast cancer early is absolutely immense.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-23