David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach will be aware that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on all health services. Oncology services have been very badly hit. There has been a drop in cancer screening, cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment. A red flag has been raised this week by Professor Seamus O'Reilly, who stressed that delays in the identification and treatment of cancer can lead to increased mortality. For every six months that there is a population-wide difficulty regarding diagnosis, it leads to increased mortality over a ten-year period. We must ensure that the investments in budget 2022 are made in cancer care, in the urgent recruitment of more consultant oncologists and in diagnostics and treatment.

I ask the Taoiseach to commit to that in budget 2022.

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