Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is important legislation that I am proud to sponsor and delighted to have the opportunity to progress. It has the support of the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Association for Nurses in Oncology, the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Furthermore, it has the backing of many cancer survivors, brave patient advocates who have battled various types of cancer ranging from melanoma to prostate and breast to testicular. They have seen at first hand how the legislative void in our laws can be filled by unscrupulous individuals touting falsehoods and dangerous lies to make a quick buck. On RTÉ's "Prime Time", Conor Wilson did great work exposing many of these practices in a special show aired a few months ago. It was an excellent example of public service broadcasting, although it had a deeply upsetting narrative. The families left behind and their pain, loss and suffering were harrowing to watch.

People in desperate situations following a cancer diagnosis are at a vulnerable point and need the protection of the law from those who would prey on them at that difficult stage in their lives. It is over 300 years since he said it, but the famous satirist Jonathan Swift was in many ways prescient when he wrote:

... as the vilest Writer has his Readers, so the greatest Liar has his Believers; and it often happens, that if a Lie be believ'd only for an Hour, it has done its Work, and there is no farther occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv'd, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect.

Currently, there are no adequate safeguards to protect patients against unproven, and at times very dangerous, treatments being offered to them. Falsehoods fly around on the Internet and the truth is lost, dismissed or simply shot down by conspiracy theorists who think anecdote is the plural of fact. With the advent and proliferation of social media platforms, it is now imperative we bring forward this legislation to protect people from so many of these lies, false claims and alternative facts.

The fake news headlines that try to promote miracle cures or dangerous alternative treatments are the worst, as they drive engagement on social media and gain attention and credibility. Some people are genuinely duped and do not set out deliberately to mislead others, while others are simply cruel enough to see a marketing opportunity for their snake oil in another person's suffering. As long as there is profit to be made on these fake cures, this type of misinformation will continue until we establish some common-sense regulations. I welcome the statement from the fundraising site GoFundMe yesterday that it will no longer allow anti-vaccine campaigns to use its platform.

This short Bill is about being able to prosecute people who are making large sums of money by peddling treatments or cures that, at best, have no proven effect whatsoever and, at worst, increase suffering, cause even greater pain and often hasten death. It is important to point out that the patient will not be the one found at fault, but the people who provide, promote, publicise and advertise products of dubious or dangerous composition and efficacy will be. The choice will remain for the patient to opt for proven or unproven treatments. This Bill does not seek to remove that choice.

I do not pretend that the Bill is perfect and I am open to working with Members of this House and the Seanad, as well as patient advocates and qualified, recognised and valid medical practitioners and healthcare providers. Some would say the Bill should go further and be broader and more all-encompassing. Dodgy people making false statements are not unique to cancer care - they span a range of health issues. I urge people to engage with the legislative process and to help make the Bill as fit for purpose as possible by inputting their experiences and ideas. We must develop and maintain the best care and protection for our population's health and for cancer patients in particular. We must build on and improve the established standards in cancer research and treatment, ensuring we follow best practice in a peer reviewed and evidence led manner.

I noted with concern this week the stark warnings about a projected increase in the number of people at risk of developing cancer in Ireland over the coming decades.

I understand that the Department, the Minister and the Government as a whole are all working to try and resource extra services where necessary, allocate increased staffing and funding, broaden access to screening, especially in the area of mammography and promote the Healthy Ireland policy, as a policy to improve the health of our nation as a whole.

This legislation is an important element to consider in relation to those projected cancer rate figures, as the people who are predators upon the sick will also be looking at those figures too and seeing them as a potentially emerging and captive market for their bogus remedies.

One would not wish a cancer diagnosis on anyone, but modem medicine is showing remarkable and impressive improvements in survival rates. Thirty years ago, only three in ten people survived cancer. Today, that figure is six in ten. That is a credit to the investment in lifesaving research as well as the major improvements in cancer care under the cancer strategies. One in every two of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime. Make no mistake, the world is full of good people who will help with a diagnosis and do everything they can to help a person win their battle against cancer. For every one of those people, however, there are others who will see a person as a cash cow to be milked for all the person is worth. I hope the Opposition parties and Independents can support and assist in the passage of this Bill through the Houses, as it is not before time.

I would like to thank those people who have helped me with this Bill, who pulled me back on certain issues, the patient advocates who fed in their experiences, the medical professionals and the cancer societies. I see in the Public Gallery Dr. David Robert Grimes who helped me with this Bill and has fed in his expertise. I could not have produced this Bill - I am a pharmacist originally - without the help of the professionals who guided me. I hope that my colleagues in Fine Gael and across the Chamber will see the merit in this Bill. In this ever-emerging world of social media and new development with Facebook, it is timely how this Bill has arisen and that we will try to get it through the Houses in a way that is fit for purpose. The point of this Bill is to protect the most vulnerable people at a vulnerable point in their lives.

Finally, I thank the staff at my office and the many interns who have passed through and been involved in this Bill, in particular Theresa Newman and Etain Hobson, who have a personal interest in this Bill. I thank everybody for listening today and look forward to working with Members on this Bill over the coming months and will be happy to engage on all levels on it.

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