Cancer screenings are expected to re-start by the end of the summer, with Health Minister Simon Harris saying dates will be provided at the end of the month.
Thousands of people have not been screened since services were halted in March due to the Coronavirus and some fear the end of the summer is too late to resume.
Medical professionals in Clare have given the news a guarded welcome.
Cancer screening services have been on hold since March when the country went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But as the country re-opens, and amid calls for government action on the issue, Minister for Health Simon Harris yesterday announced that dates will be provided by the end of this month for when a phased reopening can begin.
Services are expected to resume on a phased basis at the end of the summer.
Oncology Nurse with Sláinte An Chláir, Anne Murphy, says that the government was right to halt services at the beginning of the outbreak.
And in the face of the pandemic, she feels a phased reopening is appropriate.
A backlog of cases has built up over recent months, and some medical professionals have expressed concern that delayed diagnoses will hamper patients’ recovery.
Kilmihl GP and former TD Michael Harty agrees that will be a problem, and while he too agrees with the government’s plan for a phased reopening, he says there will be problems, including incapacity for colonoscopies
While screening services remain paused, for now cancer treatments are still running and if somebody is showing symptoms of cancer they can still access checks through their GP.
Marése O’Sullivan, Clare FM, first for local news.
