Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Jun 1999

Vol. 506 No. 5

Written Answers. - Cancer Incidence.

David Stanton

Question:

181 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No. 73 of 16 June 1999, the areas where no raised incidence of cancer was discovered by the National Cancer Register; if other requests or reports have been received and not responded to; if he will give details regarding the extent of cancer, by county, for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16024/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

The National Cancer Registry was asked to examine the situation in two areas of the country. The Southern Health Board asked the registry to investigate the incidence of cancer in the Caherlag-Little Island area from 1992 to 1995. The registry provided a report in May 1998 showing no evidence of a cluster of cancers. The Mid- Western Health Board asked the registry to look at cancer incidence in Askeaton and again found no evidence of a raised incidence of cancer.

The National Cancer Registry has informed me that it has not received any other requests for reports on possible cancer clusters.

The incidence of cancer by county is set out in the attached table for the years 1994 and 1995, the years for which national data is available to date. The registry expects to complete its national reports in respect of 1996 and 1997 in the autumn. The figures below have been adjusted by the registry to take account of age differences by region, since the incidence of cancer rises with age.

The registry has warned that it is difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding variations in the incidence of cancer because of the small number of cases in many counties. It will be necessary to collect data for a number of further years before drawing definitive conclusions.

Cancer incidence by County 1994-95

	Females	1994	1995	per 100k	SIR	Males	1994	1995	per 100k	SIR
Carlow	89	74	399.2	111	69	67	333.0	95
Cavan	124	95	427.6	103	129	111	468.6	99
Clare	149	122	296.4	77	160	144	332.5	82
Cork	847	855	405.9	106	784	806	379.1	109
Donegal	264	239	392.2	100	306	256	438.2	103
Dublin	2,324	2,007	397.8	109	1,711	1,706	313.8	113
Galway	335	320	352.8	93	322	342	357.6	91
Kerry	237	253	397.6	95	264	242	410.6	92
Kildare	189	196	296.0	98	164	182	266.1	105
Kilkenny	95	120	291.4	76	124	105	310.4	80
Laois	111	93	397.3	106	83	79	315.5	79
Leitrim	65	52	485.9	104	64	67	544.1	95
Limerick	299	291	359.7	97	268	230	303.6	90
Longford	56	67	417.9	102	54	71	424.7	97
Louth	198	170	397.1	108	175	153	353.9	112
Mayo	230	176	368.9	84	239	210	408.0	84
Meath	176	164	316.6	92	136	141	257.9	81
Monaghan	64	69	264.6	69	109	85	385.9	96
Offaly	85	100	319.4	86	90	101	329.8	86
Roscommon	91	90	358.3	80	112	111	441.5	84
Sligo	126	106	415.7	101	122	118	430.1	100
Tipperary N	102	121	389.0	97	122	102	390.8	96
Tipperary S	155	125	377.4	95	129	134	354.5	89
Waterford	166	178	366.5	96	185	159	366.5	103
Westmeath	111	117	362.3	98	113	114	360.7	99
Wexford	181	162	332.7	96	192	181	361.8	99
Wicklow	215	194	400.5	102	179	169	340.8	109

Source: Cancer in Ireland, 1995: Incidence and Mortality National Cancer Registry (1998) Table 3.8.