Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is recognised. The Minister mentioned the €40 million but that is since 2017, when this national cancer strategy came into being. It is said that we need €20 million per year to implement the national cancer strategy. While the funding for new medicines and increased capacity across the health service will help, the Minister will note that the national cancer strategy is aimed at early detection and prevention. We need to see investment in that.

The surgical oncology centralisation project, which supports cancer surgery, the national plan for radiation oncology, the phase 2 expansions and radio therapy services enhancements were not mentioned. These are all specific areas in the HSE's national service plan that need investment. We need to see funding going to them. It is not enough to speak broadly of investment in the health service and hope that investment raises the level of service provision in these specific areas of the HSE service plan. We need more detail and funding, which we have not seen from the Government in the two most recent budgets.

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