Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Tánaiste heard that Professor M. John Kennedy, who is the chair of the third cancer strategy steering group, told the health committee yesterday that cancer surgeries are being cancelled because hospitals are overwhelmed. That is happening on the Government's watch. The improvements that were made many years ago are not being sustained. The proportion of people contracting and dying from cancer is still significantly higher than other EU states. This stated is a laggard, especially among countries in western Europe.

The Tánaiste talked about the cancer strategy. I have given him some facts. In the past seven years, the cancer strategy has not been funded properly. It has been underfunded for five out of the past seven years. The former Minister and new Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, did not fund it properly in the first two years. These are not my words; they are the words of experts in the field. It is not funded. Last year, the HSE sought €20 million from the Government for the cancer strategy. The Government provided zero funding. One wonders how it is that surgeries are being cancelled and people with cancer who have appointments have to wait months on end because the capacity is not there. Then we have the scandal - it is an absolute scandal, and the Tánaiste completely ignored that point - where we have vital radiotherapy equipment in hospitals across the State that is lying idle because the Government is deliberately underfunding the cancer strategy. Who is being put at risk here? It is patients and our loved ones in our communities.

Will the Tánaiste indicate what the Government is going to do to make sure the equipment is utilised?

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