Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues for bringing forward this motion. I also thank the Irish Cancer Society for all the work it has done advocating on and highlighting this issue. It is welcome that the Government is not tabling a counter-motion and will support our motion. However, simply supporting it and not tabling a counter-motion is not enough. There must be action on the motion, and I have not heard from the Minister of State that there will be any action. In fact, what I heard from the Minister of State's most recent comments is a defence of the status quo, which is simply not good enough. It is not listening to cancer patients and seeing the difficulties and stresses they are undergoing.

The motion calls for the abolition of the €80 inpatient charge for all those receiving cancer treatment. What is the Government's position on that? If it is supporting the motion, when will it abolish the €80 inpatient charge? The motion specifically calls for the HSE to be directed to end the practice of using debt collectors. There was no comment at all from the Minister of State on that unacceptable practice. We have not received a commitment from the Minister of State regarding the car parking charges, which put a massive burden on people at the very time they do not need it. It is welcome that the Government is not opposing the motion, but for that to mean anything there must be action from the Government.

We need commitments from the Government and timescales on this issue, not a simple defence of the status quo. That will not cut it.

The motion is about recognising people and the stress or trauma they go through when they receive a diagnosis. It is about seeing the significant burden these financial charges place on such people at the very time they do not need them, while they are trying to deal with their diagnosis and treatment. I appreciate there is empathy on this issue, but I do not think that point has been heard fully by the Government because, if it had been, we would be hearing about the actions it is going to take to address this issue, when it will abolish the charges and when it will call off the debt collectors.

We should pause and ask ourselves how we got to a situation, as a country and a people, where debt collectors are being sent after people with a cancer diagnosis at the very time they are at their most vulnerable and when they need the most support from the State. That is the way in which they are being treated. I do not believe that any Deputy supports that. I do not think anyone in the country supports it. That is not enough, however. We have to change it into action and stop this terrible and inhumane practice. We need to stop this brutal treatment of people that cannot be defended and was not defended in the comments of the Minister of State. We have to act to make a change on that.

The Irish Cancer Society states:

When thinking about cancer, people tend to focus on the treatment options and chances of surviving the disease. Not the families right across the country crushed by debt, struggling to make ends meet and facing an uncertain financial future. Not a parent having to make the choice between paying for medication for themselves and putting food on the table for their children. Not the debt collectors working on behalf of hospitals, chasing cancer patients at their lowest physical and emotional point. Not those sitting in a cold house during chemo because the heating bills are just too high.

That is the reality into which people are being placed by the State and the lack of action on this issue.

Hospital parking charges, to which reference was made, are a significant extra cost and burden. A cancer patient stated:

I stayed in hospital for 115 days and during that time, my wife Trish came to visit me five days a week. It cost her almost €1,200 in parking charges alone in that time. ... If she was able to get free parking, or even a reduced rate, it would have been a great help to us.

A wife visiting her husband who was in hospital with cancer was charged €1,200. That is inhumane. It needs to change and we need action from the Government on it.

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