The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has expressed concern that it is not intended to have any "comprehensive cancer centre" north of a line from Galway to Dublin when cancer services in the State are reorganised.
The statement from the prestigious body, which is responsible for maintaining standards of medical training and professional specialist practice, will be welcomed by those campaigning to have all cancer services retained at Sligo and Mayo general hospitals.
Under the new national cancer control plan, it is proposed to move to a new system of delivering cancer care over the next two years which will see most cancer services delivered through eight designated centres of excellence, four of which are located in Dublin.
The others are in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick. Prof Tom Keane, the State's new director of cancer control, said earlier this week he did not plan to deviate from this strategy.
However, the RCPI warned that it was important in establishing these centres of excellence "that the geographical distribution of the population of Ireland be taken into account".
It said: "It is concerning to us, for example, that it appears that it is intended to have no comprehensive cancer centre north of the line from Galway to Dublin."
Notwithstanding its concerns, it said it must be accepted that high quality cancer care could not be delivered in a fragmented and widely dispersed fashion in a state as small as Ireland.