Mr. Richard Flaherty:

The Deputy's casual observation is actually quite accurate. I was in the support centre in Galway talking to and having a coffee with one of the oncology nurses there. She referenced the number of young people who have come to the service with cancer, and who are presenting quite late at stage 4, which was quite surprising and shocking to me. I do not know whether that is a legacy going back to Covid and late diagnosis, but it is seemingly a significant increase. That is a challenge we need to meet because the more complex cases, as referenced, need more comprehensive care and more resources. We are happy to provide that.

The Deputy is right. If a person comes in to us young, and it is to be hoped he or she will get over cancer, that individual will need years of care and support. As we just have once-off funding from the Government, we are not in a position to plan accordingly. The Deputy is right. We were delighted with the €3 million last year but we see it as just a first step in putting consolidated funding in place so we can all plan for what is coming down the tracks in terms of numbers, profiling, late diagnosis and what is coming down from Covid. It is critical for our sector.