Four new linear accelerators for cancer treatment have been officially opened at St Luke's Cancer Hospital in Dublin.

The four machines, two of them replacing ageing models, provide intensity-modulated radiotherapy and image-guided radiotherapy.

According to St Luke's, this is the first time that this type of cancer therapy has been provided in a public hospital in Ireland.

The hospital now has eight fully-operational linear accelerators and will now be able to treat more patients, thus reducing waiting periods.

Under the reorganisation plan for cancer services, radiation oncology treatment will eventually cease at St Luke's in 2014, which will by then have moved completely to two large radiation oncology centres opening at Beaumont and St James's hospitals in Dublin.

It is planned that over the next 18 months, eight new linear accelerators will be commissioned at Beaumont and St James's. It is estimated that these new units and the four new accelerators launched at St Luke's will be sufficient to meet the needs of the Dublin region in the near future.

St Luke's says it will continue to develop proposals for the future use of the hospital for the benefit of cancer patients and their families, after radiation oncology ceases there in 2014.

Health Minister Mary Harney, speaking at the launch of the accelerators at St Luke's, said despite the cut in the health capital budget, she expected the same number of hospital and other construction projects to be delivered  as planned this year.

She said she hoped this could be facilitated by a reduction in construction costs.