Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

——or perhaps in other parts of the country. However, that does not take away from what has been done for cancer services and, in recent years, we have spent money on them and have resourced them by providing staff, equipment and beds.

In regard to oncology services, somewhere of the order of €550 million has gone into building on the cancer strategy and providing the necessary resources. That applies to this year. Nearly 90 consultants deal with that and there is the relevant back-up staff. There has been a substantial increase everywhere in the country. As the Deputy knows, cancer patients come to the main centres for various aspects of their operative and post-operative care where the specialties are located. That is the way it is with all our main services, including heart, liver and other services. That is what the medical people believe is the best way to deal with people who are ill, the best way they can give them the service and the best way of getting people who are seriously ill back to full health. They do that for good reason, and not only in this country.

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