Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Dr. Coffey and wish him well in his role as chairman of this very important group. The National Cancer Registry is vital and important. He and his colleagues have done amazing work in recent years dealing with cancer-related issues. If I may say this gently, I think that in many respects they have taken a lot of the fear away from people who are scared, as many people now survive and have quite a normal life.

The hospice movement now plays a major role in after-care all around the country. In my own constituency of Roscommon-Galway, Mayo Roscommon Hospice intends to develop a building on the grounds of Roscommon University Hospital. It has raised the funds and the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has agreed that the staff funding costs will be looked after by the Department. Looking at the figures here, the difficulty is that such staffing cannot be afforded by the Department until about 2020. That is a long time given the growing percentage of people who are suffering and will suffer from cancer. Up to 2025 there is to be a 50% increase, and up to 2040, some 100%. It is a shocking figure. Is there a way in which we could fight to try to get that staffing issue sorted out more quickly? It really is extremely important to the whole after-care scenario.

Deputy O'Connell referred to the vaccine. The difficulty I have is that when some families speak about the after-effects on their child, it is hard not to listen and be concerned. Obviously the vaccine is really important. How can we reassure the growing number of parents who are deciding against getting the vaccine for their daughters? If all of the experts are recommending it, it is very important that it is done.