Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognises and notes:

— the work of our healthcare workers in improving the health outcomes for patients with cancer;

— the improvement in survival rates in Ireland during the current National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026, with more than 215,000 people living in Ireland following a cancer diagnosis compared to 150,000 in 2017 when the Strategy was brought to Government;

— the strong performance of Ireland compared to other European countries in reducing the rate of deaths from cancer;

— that studies for the period 2011-2019 found that Ireland reduced cancer mortality by 14 per cent for men and 13 per cent for women, compared to the European Union (EU) average of 10 per cent for men and 5 per cent for women;

— the substantial investment that has been made into the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 since the formation of this Government in 2020 of €40 million, with a cumulative total of over €120 million in additional funding spent on the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 since 2020;

— the recruitment of an additional 670 new staff to national cancer services since 2017, leading to improved access to treatment for cancer patients;

— the provision of improved treatment for cancer patients since 2020, including new treatments now available in Ireland for the first time, tailored anti-cancer therapies, and new radiotherapy treatments;

— the development of new infrastructure for cancer since 2017, including new radiation oncology facilities at Cork and Galway with a total capital spend of over €120 million, and the extensive cancer infrastructure projects which are currently ongoing within the Health Service Executive;

— the investment into screening services since 2020 of €30 million in new development funding, including €20 million to support the opening of the National Cervical Screening Laboratory in December 2022;

— that Ireland's screening programmes rank highly for uptake rates in comparison to the EU member states which have these screening programmes in place: BreastCheck seventh out of 23 member states, CervicalCheck third out of 19 member states, and BowelScreen sixth out of 16 member states;

— the ambitious target set by this Government to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, which Ireland is on track to achieve;

— the sustained funding of cancer research of €37.6 million between 2020 and 2023, which represents 14 per cent of the Health Research Board's overall funding portfolio;

— the funding allocated in the last three years to new medicines, including 61 cancer drugs, of €98 million, and the total spend on cancer drugs in the last three years of over €600 million;

— the support given to smoking cessation initiatives of over €60 million from 2020-2024, and the extensive body of legislation enacted since the formation of this Government to address tobacco consumption as the biggest single cause of cancer in Ireland;

— the initiatives progressed under this Government to address alcohol as the fourth highest modifiable risk factor for cancer in Ireland, including the further commencement of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 to introduce minimum unit pricing, health labelling of alcohol products, the regulation of advertising and sponsorship, and the reduced visibility of alcohol in mixed trading outlets;

— the Government is committed to increasing capacity in our public hospitals; 1,182 new acute hospital inpatient beds have opened since 2020, which includes 56 beds opened so far in 2024; and

— there was a significant increase in the number of additional student places available on health-related courses in 2023; in total over 660 additional student places have been provided in medicine, nursing and midwifery, pharmacy, and other key healthcare courses in the academic year 2023/24; and this includes over 220 student places across Nursing and Midwifery and Allied Health Professional courses in Northern Ireland.".

I welcome the opportunity to discuss funding for the national cancer strategy. I thank the Deputies for tabling this Private Members' motion. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly is not available to respond to it as he is in the Seanad with legislation. The unfortunate reality is that a large proportion of people in Ireland will interact with our cancer services. This could be as a patient or as a friend or family member of a patient. This is why the Government and the Minister for Health have advocated for and ensured funding for cancer services in Ireland. I will set out clearly what has been spent on cancer services over the lifetime of the Government.

Successive national cancer strategies have shown the benefit of continued investment in national cancer services. The benefits for Irish cancer patients come from earlier diagnosis, better treatment and improved rates of survival. Seven years into the national cancer strategy, 40 of the 52 recommendations - I repeat that is 40 of the 52 recommendations and not one as was said across the floor - are now implemented and work is progressing on the remaining recommendations.

The Government’s commitment to implementation of the national cancer strategy is evidenced by significant investment in recent years. We have seen significant progress on the implementation of the strategy with clear evidence-based policy direction from the Department and strong implementation by the HSE's national cancer control programme.

The Government has invested an additional €40 million into treatment services under the national cancer strategy, and the total cumulative additional funding into treatment services under the strategy since 2017 is more than €230 million. This funding has enabled the recruitment of more than 670 staff to our national cancer services since 2017, including an additional 200 nursing staff, 100 consultants, and 180 health and social care professionals in designated cancer centres. Additionally, €30 million has been invested in screening since 2020, including €20 million for the development of the new national cervical screening laboratory which opened in December 2022. This means that our national cancer services have been strengthened, that more patients are receiving treatment, and that waiting times to access treatment are reduced.

Capital funding of more than €120 million has been used to provide state-of-the-art radiation oncology facilities in Cork and Galway, which opened in 2020 and 2023, and to update cancer infrastructure in chemotherapy wards and laboratory facilities for the benefit of patients. In the past three years, additional investment of €98 million in new medicines has included approvals for 61 new cancer drugs. This brings total spend on cancer drugs in the past three years to more than €600 million. Taken as a whole, this represents a significant investment towards the implementation of the aims of the national cancer strategy. Since 2017, the total additional funding across screening, prevention, treatment, new cancer drugs and cancer research is more than €180 million.

The strategy recognises the impact of catching cancer early on a patient's prognosis, and the importance of preventing cancer where possible. Current estimates show that four out of ten cancer cases can be prevented by a change in lifestyle or environment. Since the beginning of 2020 the Government has spent more than €60 million on measures to assist people with quitting smoking. This funding allows people to receive smoking cessation medications and it funds our national quit line as well as staffing and other programmes.

In 2022, the HSE national cancer control programme launched the Early Diagnosis of Symptomatic Cancer Plan 2022-2025. The plan focuses on raising awareness of the signs of cancer among health professionals and the general public, with a particular emphasis on marginalised groups. Nine out of ten cancers are diagnosed when individuals present to their GP with symptoms and electronic referral is in place for breast, lung, prostate and suspected skin cancer. More patients are being seen now than ever before in rapid access clinics, with more than 53,000 attendances in 2023.

The strategy sets out a vision for continuous improvement of cancer services, following on from the progress under the previous two cancer strategies. A particular focus is the centralisation of cancer surgery, which is now 85% complete. This means that expertise and resources are concentrated in designated centres, ensuring that patients have the best care available for cancer surgery.

Early intervention in cancer is extremely important, and as part of the urgent and emergency care plan this year time-sensitive cancer surgeries are given priority where possible. The NCCP engages closely with designated centres to monitor the activity of surgical services, and by the end of 2023 more than 17,000 cancer surgeries had been carried out, which was more than 1,000 more than in 2019. Since 2020, new cancer treatments and models of care have been launched in Ireland thanks to the increased funding for the national cancer strategy, including CAR-T for certain blood cancers, PRRT for neuroendocrine tumour patients and the SABR advanced radiotherapy treatment now available in our new radiation oncology centres.

The Government has also allocated significant investment to ensuring new medicines are available for cancer patients. A total of €98 million additional funding was allocated for new medicines over the past three years, which includes funding for 61 cancer drugs. The total spend on cancer drugs in the past three years has been more than €600 million. I am setting out the facts.

When this strategy was brought to Government in 2017, there were 150,000 people living after a cancer diagnosis in Ireland. That number is now at 215,000, a 43% increase under this strategy. Thankfully, I am one of those people. This is a massive achievement, and it means that the aim under the strategy to increase patient involvement and maximise quality of life becomes even more important.

Over the lifetime of this strategy, the NCCP has developed models of care for psycho-oncology, which incorporate best international practice and ensure that psycho-social supports for cancer patients and their families are to a very high standard. This has included specific models of care for children, adolescents and young adults which recognise their different needs from adults. These models of care have the aim of improving outcomes for cancer patients who face a heavy burden throughout their treatment and beyond, into recovery. The NCCP has also developed guidelines for community services that have been adopted by the NCCP Alliance of Community Cancer Support Centres. The Minister for Health allocated €3 million in funding to these centres for 2024, recognising the impact these centres have on cancer patients and their families in communities throughout Ireland.

The ongoing transformation of cancer services is a priority under the strategy. This is enabled by integrating research into cancer care where possible, and making use of innovative methods to improve how our national cancer services provide care. The national cancer information system, NCIS, is live in 18 out of 26 sites nationwide, with the remaining hospitals expected to be completed this year. The NCIS is essential for risk reduction and the optimal and safe delivery of multidisciplinary systemic anti-cancer treatment. It also allows for electronic prescribing and administration of cancer drug treatment in public hospitals. The NCIS enables an integrated approach to patient care across multiple sites, which benefits patients as their record travels with them.

Since 2020, the Health Research Board, HRB, has invested €37.6 million in cancer research. This represents almost 14% of the total health research investment. Of this funding, €21.6 million went towards support for developing cancer clinical trials infrastructure, to help achieve one of the aims of the strategy which is to increase patient participation in clinical trials. In addition to this funding, this year, the HRB announced a provision of €1.2 million in funding for cancer research projects operating on a North-South basis as part of the cancer consortium, which involves co-operation between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United States' National Cancer Institute.

As I mentioned earlier, under this strategy there has been an improvement in cancer survival rates in Ireland. Looking back to the period between 1994 and 1998, the five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with cancer was 44%. This increased dramatically to 65% for people diagnosed with cancer between 2014 and 2018. Ireland is performing strongly in comparison to other European countries in its reduction of cancer mortality. European comparisons for the period from 2011 to 2019 found that Ireland reduced cancer mortality by 14% for men and 13% for women, compared to the EU average of 10% for men and 5% for women. In addition to this, recent estimates by the European Cancer Inequalities Registry, ECIR, suggest that Irish cancer mortality rates have fallen below the EU-27 rate. This is proof of the benefits of our long-term strategic approach to cancer, with strong policy oversight from the Government and a national cancer control approach led by the NCCP.

As cancer will affect one in three of us in our lifetimes, support for cancer services and cancer patients will continue to be prioritised as part of the overall health budget. This Government has invested heavily in the national cancer strategy and associated initiatives in recent years, enabling the further development of our national cancer services.

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