Ms Averil Power:

On delayed diagnoses, there are very significant inequities in that area. We have not looked at it specifically in the context of energy but we funded a report from TASC into inequities in cancer care last year.

We know that stage of diagnosis can be the difference between life and death with cancer. The earlier it is picked up, the easier it is to treat and the likelier someone is to survive and if he or she survives as a result of less harsh treatment, he or she is more likely to have a better quality of life. Research has shown very strongly that income has a massive influence on the stage at which someone will be diagnosed in this country. Previous research found that someone was three times more likely to get and die from cancer in Mulhuddart than in Castleknock, two areas that are side by side. That is just a snapshot from that area but this would be replicated around the country because of the specific challenge in Ireland around getting access to diagnostics. Once someone gets a cancer diagnosis, treatment is for the most part equal. People will get there. Some differences exist regarding some of the health insurers reimbursing some of the more expensive drugs that someone would not get through the public system but for the most part, treatment is equal when someone gets that diagnosis. People from poorer backgrounds are getting that diagnosis much later because they cannot jump the public waiting lists. They cannot afford to pay for private tests so they hear those words, "You've got cancer", at a later stage, often in emergency departments. One in four cancer diagnoses is picked up in emergency departments often from people in excruciating pain with advanced cancers that could have been detected earlier so we would say it is a massive issue. It is not something that was specifically part of the remit of this research but is something we have funded research into separately. Diagnostics and picking cancers up earlier in everybody constitute the most significant issue with cancer in Ireland.