Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

I commend the Independent Members of the Technical Group on putting forward this important and comprehensive motion on an issue that affects a broad cohort of people in the State. The motion points to the serious deficiencies in cancer services before constructively pointing to what must be done to redress them.

I commend the Kilkenny mother, who went by the name of Rosie, who explained to the nation some weeks ago how a two-tier health service can be literally deadly for human beings. The eight months she waited for a colonoscopy can make the difference between a much longer span of life or a much shortened one. It is absolutely inexcusable that in this State, probably the richest country in the European Union, patients depending exclusively on the public health service can find themselves in such a situation. It should never happenagain.

Cancer is a terrible tragedy. Each year, 20,000 families learn that a loved one has developed the disease. Some 7,500 people die from the disease every year, ranging from the elderly to the very young. It is inexcusable, therefore, that significant preventative measures are not in place. The comprehensive cervical cancer screening programme that was promised 11 years ago, for example, is still not in place. International experience shows that such a screening programme is hugely successful in detecting the early signs of a cancer that is usually curable. Moreover, I am aware of a constituent who, having taken a test, had to wait six months for the result. This is also inexcusable.

This motion does not cast any reflection on the medical staff in the health services. Between June and November last, I watched my brother Liam Higgins, at 61 years of age, progress from a healthy looking man to a shadow, when cancer of the oesophagus claimed his life. This is an experience endured by many thousands of families each year. The care my brother received from doctors, nurses, district nurses, hospice nurses and medical staff was exceptional. What we call for in this motion is a commitment to provide the resources necessary to ensure care is available whenever it is needed and, second, that nobody should have to wait one day longer than necessary to avail of that care.

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