Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The issue of standards is one for the Minister. Even with the establishment of the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, standards have to be signed off on by the Minister. I appointed Professor Higgins who, if not the leading Irish expert in this field, is certainly at the top of the class in this regard. His recommendations on standards were endorsed by the Government earlier this year and have now been implemented.

Two issues arise. A great deal more money will be invested in cancer treatment services because as the Deputy said, many more people will suffer from cancer. One in three of us will suffer from some form of invasive cancer during our lifetime. This will be a big challenge for the health service. In addition, we will need to redirect resources. The provision of additional resources is not always the answer. Professor Keane did a good job in Canada and is the ideal person — he was educated in Ireland — to oversee implementation of the programme, which I welcome.

In the context of next year's budget for the health service, the existing level will be announced by the Minister for Finance tomorrow. Other initiatives will be announced on budget day. In that context, cancer services have a high priority, both in terms of screening, as the Deputy acknowledged, and on the service delivery side.

The death of Susie Long was a dreadful tragedy. Her situation should never have happened. She went to a public hospital, totally funded by the taxpayer, and was told if she had health insurance, she could have had her procedure the following week. Because she did not have insurance the procedure was not carried out until six months later.

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