Cancer patients in Donegal will be allowed to avail of treatment at a new state-of-the-art Belfast clinic under a cross-Border arrangement announced today by the Minister for Health Mary Harney and her northern counterpart.
Ms Harney made the announcement in Belfast after a meeting with the Northern Ireland Health Minister Mr Shaun Woodward.
She said she expected that about 100 cancer patients a year from the northwest would get radiotherapy treatment in the centre which will based at the City Hospital in Belfast.
Ms Harney said that officials on both sides will now begin work on the detailed arrangements for these treatments to begin after the new Centre opens in March.
She said: "This is a radical example of co-operation between the health services north and south to provide a service that will make a real difference to the lives of cancer patients."
The Tánaiste emphasised her belief that these arrangements will not diminish in any respect the level of services offered to people in Northern Ireland by their health service.