Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At a more general level in respect of the Irish healthcare service, the evidence is overwhelming. Certainly, in the last two decades and possibly the last three decades or longer, the Irish health service is actually increasing survival on all the main killers of people. With cardiac disease, cancer, stroke and chronic diseases generally such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, the outcomes are now much better than they would have been 20 years ago. The survival rates for cancer, based on the National Cancer Registry 's latest report, are very impressive. We need to be careful and balanced in our description and analysis of the Irish healthcare service. There are challenges and problems, certainly in emergency departments. However, it is wrong to give the impression that the Irish healthcare service is actually killing people. It is not doing that.

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