Ms Averil Power:

Every three minutes, someone in Ireland hears the words, "You have cancer". I know some of the people attending this meeting have heard those words personally and others have been given this news about someone they love. People here know all too well the impact of a cancer diagnosis, including the fear and uncertainty it brings, the physical, emotional and financial burden it imposes, the enormous grief when it takes the life of a loved one too soon, and the impact on those who are fortunate to survive but who struggle with lasting effects such as infertility, incontinence and fatigue.

With cancer rates expected to double by 2045, one in two of us will be diagnosed with the disease in our lifetime. When we are, we deserve the best possible chance, both of surviving and of having a good quality of life afterwards.

Sadly, people with cancer are not being given that opportunity in Ireland today due to Government failure to properly fund the 2017 national cancer strategy.

Cancer care used to be the poster child for progress in the Irish health service. In 1998, just 44% of Irish people were alive five years after a cancer diagnosis. By 2018, that had increased to 65% thanks to investment in the first two national cancer strategies and brave decisions like the centralisation of cancer surgeries. However, the proportion of people getting and dying from cancer in Ireland was still significantly higher than in other EU states and we had a long way to go to catch up on the best-performing countries.

The third national cancer strategy, chaired by Professor John Kennedy who is seated on my left, was designed to change that through improvements in cancer prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship support. It highlighted the importance of investment in cancer research and trials, as well as the need for workforce planning and sufficient support for the national cancer control programme. It was an ambitious but achievable plan which, if backed up with political leadership and investment, would transform the outcomes of people affected by cancer in Ireland. The Irish Cancer Society was proud to sit on the steering committee that developed the strategy and expected it to lead to further significant improvements in cancer outcomes here. However, inadequate Government funding and the impact of Covid-19 on cancer diagnosis and treatment means that we are now longer confident that will be the case. In fact, we are concerned that Ireland's cancer outcomes may have stagnated or even disimproved since the strategy was published. Without proper funding, the national cancer strategy is a plan without action, and a plan without action is not a plan; it is just words. Words are no comfort to someone languishing on a waiting list for a cancer test, getting more worried by the day, or to the healthcare professionals trying to do their best in a chaotic system, knowing their patients are not getting the standard of care they deserve.

The national cancer control programme has only been given proper funding for the current national cancer strategy in two of the seven budgets since it was published, namely, the budgets of 2021 and 2022. As a result, progress has been piecemeal and partial and proper multi-annual workforce planning has not been possible. Improvements have been made, particularly in nursing services and psychological support for patients, and innovations have been developed, such as the acute oncology nursing service. However, these need additional funding to realise their potential.

Almost seven years since the strategy was published, it is clear that the key cancer prevention target of reducing the adult daily smoking rate to 5% by 2025 will not be met. Bowel screening has not been expanded as planned. Target waiting times for cancer tests are consistently exceeded. Surgical delays continue to be common due to understaffing and lack of protected beds and theatre space for cancer services. Patients still struggle to access key supports such as dieticians and lymphedema treatment.

We are also falling far short of the already modest target of 6% of cancer patients participating in clinical trials. In some areas, things have significantly disimproved since 2017. Waiting times for radiotherapy have increased, with expensive equipment lying idle in several hospitals due to an ongoing shortage of radiation therapists. Inequality between public and private patients is growing, particularly in terms of access to new medicines. It is truly shocking that this is being allowed to happen, particularly when we have such strong evidence that investment in cancer services works. It saves lives and it saves the State money in the long term.

The Irish Cancer Society is urging members to work with us to change this. I urge members to help us to ensure that cancer is a political priority now and in the coming years, the Government publishes a credible plan to fully implement the national cancer strategy with ring-fenced multi-annual funding, urgently needed improvements in cancer services are delivered and every Irish person, regardless of his or her background or income, has the best possible chance of surviving cancer.