David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. To get in as many questions as I can, I will direct my questions to the individual witnesses. I will not need everybody to answer the same question, but if somebody has a point to make that will obviously be fine as well.

I thank Ms Power for her powerful opening statement. I echo the call that was made for a strong public health campaign and a strong public health message that if people have a concern or if people have symptoms, they should go to their GP. That needs to be a very strong message coming from the meeting. After today's session perhaps the committee could issue a statement calling for that because it is a really important point. If people do not go to their GP, they will not be able to get the rapid access to the diagnosis and treatment that they need. That is an important point for the committee to make.

We know that screening services were curtailed in 2020, which was very difficult. Ms Power said that a reduction in screening can have an impact on cancer burden. Specialists would also say that cancer screening is not a substitute for a diagnosis and people obviously still need to go and get a diagnosis. However, screening plays a significant and important role. Would Ms Power like to see additional capacity or maybe the rebooting or restarting of screening services?