Ms Averil Power:

I will pick up on the Chair's last point. I thank him for sharing his personal experience and reminding people that, increasingly, there is life after cancer. We are in a crisis, obviously, at the minute and it is right the committee is focusing on how we can address the Covid backlog and the cyberattack to get things back on track. However, it is also important to give people hope because there will be people watching this webcast who are going through cancer and need that hope. Things really have improved. Thirty years ago only three out of ten Irish people survived cancer; today six out of ten do. Many cancers, such as childhood blood cancers, that were almost always fatal in the past are now largely curable. Progress is being made every day, including with research we fund, to turn today's terminal cancers into tomorrow's treatable and survivable ones.

I urge that, in addition to addressing the current crisis and focusing on those short-term measures, we also get back to the long-term vision that it is absolutely within our grasp to end cancer deaths. The scale of medical and scientific progress made in recent decades is incredible. We have doubled the number of people surviving. If we see the same political and investment priority given to cancer research after the pandemic as we have seen for Covid, it is absolutely within our grasp as a global research and medical community to end cancer deaths in a generation and make sure people do not needlessly lose their lives to this terrible disease.

In addition to raising short-term issues, I urge the committee, through all the work the various Deputies and Senators do here influencing Government priorities in the recovery plan, to make sure we see those political and investment priorities for the national cancer strategy and cancer research so we can realise that ambition. If we look at how quickly we have developed not just one but many different Covid vaccines, when we make something a priority and we give experts such as those on this call and their colleagues globally the support and investment they need, we can do incredible things. This will make such a difference to people affected by cancer currently and in the future in every community in Ireland.