Ms Averil Power:

As I said earlier, it is typical of many cancers that if they are diagnosed at stage 1, the prognosis is 80%, 90% or 95% but at stage 4 that drops to 10% in some cases, or 15% or 20%. That is why we are underscoring the need for earlier access to diagnostics. The earlier cancer is caught, the easier it is to treat. We want to be catching all tumours before they have spread. We want to be catching breast cancer before it has become metastatic breast cancer when it is easier to remove the tumour and the procedure is less invasive. People who go through less invasive treatments have much less harsh side effects afterwards and a better quality of life. They have a better chance of both surviving the disease and having a decent life afterwards, including getting back to work and, we hope, to normal life.

Our goal should be to stop people getting cancer in the first place and do more on prevention for the four out of ten cancers that are caused by lifestyle factors. It should be to educate, empower and support people to reduce their modifiable cancer risk. We should invest more in screening to catch problems at a precancerous stage as CervicalCheck does. We have called for screening to be expanded to lung cancer and other areas where there is good international evidence that screening for healthy people without cancer symptoms can catch cases. People might not have symptoms and do not yet know they have an issue but screening them can pick up cancers either at a very early stage of cancer or at a precancerous stage before it has even gone on to cause cancer. It is about prevention and screening and catching people in that way. It is also about ensuring people who have symptoms can get into their GP.

Again, there are big disparities. There are parts of Dublin that are massively under-resourced, where we just do not have enough GPs. We have far fewer GPs per capitathan other countries so even when people have symptoms, they cannot get in to a GP. Others, as Ms Morrogh said, cannot afford it. The €50, €60 or €70 it costs to go to a GP means those people will not get picked up because they are having to make choices about whether to pay their heating bill, buy shoes for their kids or say something does not feel right and pay to see a GP. Some of us take that for granted. For others, they just cannot afford it. It is all of that.

We need all of cancer care to work, from prevention to early detection, treatment and proper survivor support, so people have a decent quality of life and, as Deputy Gino Kenny mentioned, a decent quality of death. We should have dignity in death so people with terminal diagnoses get the palliative care they need and their final days are not painful, so they are being looked after, are as comfortable as they can be and pass away with some dignity. Right now, none of that is working as well as it should be. That is simply not acceptable.

I know all of the members know this. All of them have advocated on these issues for us and for cancer patients who have reached out to them to share their family's heartbreak and personal experience of what is happening. We are just asking to please keep that up. We cannot do this without them. Cancer patients cannot do it. It is awful that we put the burden on patients who are sick. Family members who are distraught from looking after their sick loved ones have to go out and advocate for themselves. They have to become researchers to try to find out if there is a better treatment or if there are trials available elsewhere that they could get on. They are researchers and advocates who are navigating the welfare maze to get medical cards. Nobody should have to do any of that. People should be able to rely on the services. As Ms Morrogh said, we have the information. We know what best practice looks like from other countries. It is about time we actually implemented that and gave people the best chance - the chance they deserve - of surviving cancer in Ireland.