Ms Miriam Walshe from Campile, Co Wexford, has personal experience of cancer and of having to travel a long distance and spend weeks away from her family in order to avail of radiation treatment.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2001, she had surgery and chemotherapy at Waterford Regional Hospital but had to travel to St Luke's Hospital in Dublin for 25 to 30 sessions of radiotherapy in mid-2002.
"I would go up on Monday morning on the bus. This meant getting up at 6 a.m. My husband or son would leave me to the bus which was nine miles from our house in Carrowanree, Campile.
"Once I arrived in Bus Áras, I would have to walk to Trinity College to get a bus to St Luke's. Eventually I started getting taxis from the bus station to the hospital, but they were very expensive.
"Walking up the avenue of St Luke's on a Monday morning when your family are at home and you know you will be away from them for a week is terrible," said Miriam, who has since made a good recovery.
"Nobody knows what it's like. I was lucky my children weren't so young. James was 20 and Catriona 17. Another woman I met had to get a childminder for her three children while she was away."
The Government's decision to locate radiotherapy centres only in Dublin, Cork and Galway for the moment was a disgrace, she said yesterday.
"I can't believe it. The Government do not care about people travelling long distances for treatment and being away from their families all week.
"The Government should be ashamed of themselves. They have helicopters and do not have to depend on public transport," Miriam said.