Ms Tracey Conroy:

On the radiation oncology, in terms of capacity, we have five public radiotherapy treatment departments and a total of 22 LINACs across those services. Galway has four, Cork has five, the St. Luke's radiation oncology network has 14 across three sites in Dublin and the HSE also contracts radiotherapy services from two private providers in Limerick and Waterford. To give a sense of the services provided, last year, the HSE provided over 6,500 patients with radiotherapy treatment. The national cancer control programme, which has overall responsibility, acknowledges that it has recorded inactivity rates across Galway, Dublin and Cork that equate to about 0.5 machines per week. The LINACs in Cork and Galway are new but require regular scheduled maintenance and quality assurance checks. These are carried out by physicists and clinical engineers, primarily during normal working hours. As to what is being done to address this issue, the HSE manages the QA-related downtime to ensure there is minimal interruption to patients' treatment and that there is no need to extend the overall treatment period as a result of missed sessions. There is a very extensive equipment replacement programme under way, particularly in Dublin. That includes the expansion of the radiotherapy department at Beaumont Hospital. It is a really high priority treatment area as part of the overall cancer services under the national cancer control programme and the HSE. It is the subject of very significant focus in the Department as well.