BreastCheck county data in development says HSE
The HSE has said it does not have accurate data per county on how many women have been screen by BreastCheck but it is in the works.
A letter, seen by the Cork Independent, was sent to Labour Deputy Mark Wall and gives a breakdown of the national uptake of BreastCheck screenings.
The letter said: “We do not have accurate data per county at the moment. This report is in development in the new BreastCheck reporting system.”
The letter also detailed the number of women screened by BreastCheck from 2023 to Q3 2025. In Q1 to Q3 2025, 125,719 women were screened, in 2024 there were 137,134 women screened while in 2023 this figure was 166,532 women.
Responding to the new figures, Labour Senator Laura Harmon called for BreastCheck to be available from age 30 onwards. BreastCheck is one part of free breast care services provided by the HSE.
BreastCheck provides free population screening nationwide for women aged 50-69 who do not have symptoms of breast cancer. There are 24 mobile BreastCheck units that move around to provide breast screening in 54 locations, so breast screening can provided to as many women as possible.
Senator Harmon said: “I am urging the Government to expand BreastCheck services to include patients between the ages of 30-74. The inclusion of this wider age range is vital going forward so we ensure diagnoses occur in a timely manner for those under 40. Every at-risk woman should have access to a screening as we know that every 4 week period that cancer goes undetected the mortality rate increases by 10%.”
“Additionally, I am calling for the wait times at symptomatic breast disease clinics to be reduced as a matter of urgency. In Ireland, 1 in 4 patients are being left to wait longer than the recommended 10 days to be seen at these clinics. This is not acceptable.”
She continued: “The Labour Party in the Seanad, have highlighted the issue of breast density in cancer screenings, discovering that around 5% of women have very high breast density. I would renew calls on the Minister for Health to ensure all women are clearly informed about their breast density after a mammogram and that teams are properly resourced to address this possibility.”
“The Government must also guarantee that the workforce pipeline is in place to ensure that screenings and radiology units are operating fully,” she concluded.