Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to speak on this motion put forward by my colleagues, the Independent Deputies. Cancer care and cancer services is an important issue. It requires urgent debate and I commend my colleagues for putting it on the political and health agendas. We will put forward sensible proposals and solutions in this debate. It is not only a question of attacking the Government; it is about pointing out the reality for patients. The role of the Independent Deputies is to put forward policies and commend policies which work.

There is a crisis in regard to the sad illness of cancer. Some 7,500 people die each year as a result of cancer. This is a crisis. There can be no more debate about it. We must deal with the crisis. We all have family, friends and neighbours affected by cancer so we need the Government to wake up and take this reality seriously. However, we also need the Government to put the services in place and to get on with the job. When we put forward solutions, the Government should adopt them and get on with it.

I do not want us to have a row as in the case of the Mater site. An objective decision was made in regard to the Mater site and I say to the Minister to get on with building the children's hospital on that site. That is what the professionals and independent, objective people decided. The Minister should get on with it and stop wasting people's time. I also call on colleagues in all parties to stop wasting people's time.

I had the honour of being elected in Dublin North Central, the old constituency of the late Dr. Noel Browne. As the Minister knows, Dr. Noel Browne fought on the TB issue and really made an impact on society. We need to take a Noel Browne-type approach and to wake up to the reality that 7,500 people die from cancer each year. Thousands more people — friends and family — live with the disease, another reality we must accept. We need to take a Noel Browne-type approach to deal with this issue. We also need a community-driven, people centred response.

I commend the people working in the services, including the doctors, nurses and the consultants, many of whom do an excellent job although it might not be trendy to say so at present. We should engage in dialogue with the consultants and resolve the current problems.

We talk about putting forward sensible proposals. The Independent Deputies call for vigorous programmes for cancer prevention, including the education of children in schools from a young age. Additional resources and a comprehensive programme should be put in place for the earliest possible detection, and the best possible treatment, of cancer.

We need the immediate extension of cervical and breast screening to all areas of the country. We also need appropriate national screening programmes for other cancers, such as prostate cancer. Some 3,000 acute hospital beds are urgently needed to ensure cancer suffers are not prevented from immediate admission to hospital where necessary.

I support the motion which calls for the scrapping of the Government bias towards privatisation of health. Health should not be treated like a commodity or a business. Health care is a right. We pay our taxes each week and everybody is entitled to a quality public health service. When we talk about reforming the health services, the key words are "investment", "reform" and "more beds". I urge all Deputies to support the Independent Deputies' motion.

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