Independent MEP Marian Harkin has called for a national campaign involving voluntary organisations throughout Ireland to pressure the Government to meet the earliest possible roll-out of Breastcheck throughout the country.

Speaking in support of the President of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association Carmel Dawson, who has called for immediate roll-out of Breastcheck, Marian Harkin said that the Government needed to hear the voices of representative organisations demanding radical action on cancer services.

“The latest postponement of the roll-out of Breastcheck is an absolute disgrace and it is particularly galling for the women of the North West who know that women just across the border in Northern Ireland and in other areas of the Republic have a significantly higher detection rate for breast cancer because of the availability of screening”, she said.

“The least the Government can do for all women is to immediately provide mobile units in un-serviced areas until a permanent service is operational and all women in Ireland have their right to good health asserted on an equal basis”, she concluded.