Professor Mark Lawler:

I thank the Senator for her questions. It is good to see her again. I want to emphasise the critical importance of research. In case anybody has any doubts, research is not an add-on any more. Research is an integral part of how we deliver the best care for our patients.

That is why the past 20 years have been so important. It has embedded that research culture on the island of Ireland. The study we published last year in the European Journal of Cancershowed that we doubled the amount of research we were doing together. We also significantly increased the amount of research we were doing with experts in the US. The quality of the research we did was also brought up to a great degree. That is compared to those that are much bigger than us around the world. As Professor Gallagher said, we punch above our weight.

I will give one good example of the economic-commercial aspect of it - Mr. Briscoe will give another - that comes from a company called Almac Diagnostic Services. It started as a spin-out company from Queen's University Belfast based on work and research done in the laboratory, initially on bowel cancer, that identified a particular test that could be used to identify which bowel cancer patients would best respond to particular treatments. That then spun out of the university, partly with Almac, a company within Northern Ireland involved in drug delivery and development, and became Almac Diagnostic Services. It is now the second biggest molecular diagnostics company in Europe. That is what is we can do based on the science and talent on this island.

Would it not be great if we could bring together the best minds and talents on this island to tackle the biggest challenge we face and will face in the future? Cancer is the biggest killer in this country, and on this island, and the Covid pandemic means it will be a big problem as we go forward. We need to act now in order to address this issue. That is why it is the combination of four groups working together in unity, namely, patients, clinicians, researchers and industry, that will drive better care for our patients and economic and societal benefit for our society.