Ms Tracey Conroy:

We have been talking about survival and as has been mentioned, survival rates for Irish cancer patients continue to improve. Survivorship is a key theme of the national cancer strategy that was approved by Government and launched in 2017 by the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. The statistics show that in 2016 there were 173,000 people alive in Ireland who have had a cancer diagnosis. That is almost 4% of the population. In developing the cancer strategy, which was done in consultation with cancer patients, we were keen to ensure a focus on this area generally. In August, the Minister launched the National Cancer Survivorship Needs Assessment: Living With and Beyond Cancer in Ireland. That report establishes a baseline assessment of the services available to cancer survivors and it recommends models of care for future development and actions to develop cancer survivorship care across the full spectrum of care required. We are very focused on that. Under the auspices of the cancer strategy, a cancer patient advisory committee has been established. That builds on the work of the cancer forum that developed the strategy. We have 15 members selected to sit on that committee and it meets actively to work on those issues, including survivorship. The Department is strongly focused on the ongoing need for funding of these services, particularly survivorship services across the spectrum of care. There is a lot of work still to be done on that.