RAPE victims in Donegal may have to travel to Dublin for treatment if more funding is not secured in the near future, according to the Donegal Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre.

They say limited availability of doctors for the Letterkenny Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) is hindering the service's progress.

Last week it emerged that two victims of rape had to travel from Sligo to Dublin to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in the Rotunda Hospital, because there is no service available in the West of Ireland. Currently there are four SATUs in Ireland - Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Donegal.

Ann Boyle, Counsellor with the Donegal Rape Crisis Centre says it's a scandal.

"At the moment there's a care unit in Letterkenny General Hospital, but they have a very limited number of doctors who can attend this or are available to do the forensic testing. This means that if somebody was raped and no doctors were available in Letterkenny they would have to travel four hours to Dublin, where they would then have to wait to be seen in the same clothes, not washing or eating the whole time until they are seen".

The Care Unit in the hospital was set up in 1998 by a group of concerned nursing staff. It receives funding through the hospital and Ann says it needs to be run as its own separate service. "At the minute there are only two doctors that can attend the unit, and the service desperately needs more funding from the HSE for these existing services. We need somebody designated to do the particular job in Letterkenny but the funding just isn't out there".

"We have had situations in the past where the guards bring a victim to the treatment unit and sometimes there is no doctor available for whatever reason. We are calling for the right amount of people with forensic experience to be hired to the service here in Donegal. We had an excellent service before the Celtic Tiger came about, now we have money and we don't have a proper service anymore".