Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Irish Cancer Society for its submission. There is no doubt that what they have spoken about is really serious. I want to start off on a positive. This touches on what was said at the start. I know this from my own family experience and that of my friends. If people are caught at stage 1 the success rate is 95%. I know family and friends who have been very lucky. They have gotten the treatment in time and it has worked. Unfortunately, the other side goes back to the point where people get delayed diagnosis because they have not gone to be seen, or looked for help early enough. There are serious consequences both on their quality of life and unfortunately in losing their lives. It is really shocking when one reads the submission and the point is makes that in January 2023 almost three out of ten people have put off going to a GP or a hospital because of the pressures on the health service over the past three months. That has consequences for people in terms of delayed diagnosis. The witnesses also made the point that even a four week delay has a huge negative effect on people's outcomes. They are speaking to the committee today and there will be recommendations coming out. What are the main recommendations they would make that would make an actual difference in the delivery of cancer treatment and in trying to reduce deaths and increase outcomes?