Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Cullinane and the Sinn Féin team for tabling the motion, which is about a life-and-death issue. I can safely say there is no one in this Chamber, or outside it, who does not have a relative or friend, or who does not know someone, who has either survived cancer or died because of it. Ireland ranks 13th out of 27 countries in terms of cancer survival. In fact, Ireland has the third highest mortality rate in western Europe.

Cancer is on the increase, with an average rise of 3% in the general population every year. These statistics should ring alarm bells in every corridor in the Department of Health, and with the Minister for Health, but, unfortunately for many people who cannot afford private tests, it is an even harder uphill battle. Inequality in cancer care is prominent and growing on a daily basis. Between 2016 and 2019, 14% of all cancer diagnoses were made in emergency departments, usually for older patients in a later stage of the disease who are, more often than not, from deprived areas. The Irish Cancer Society stated that waiting times are translating to inequality in the healthcare system. At the end of 2023, 260,000 people were waiting on a list, 135,000 of whom had been waiting for longer than three months. Action is required now. The Government should end the recruitment embargo. Approximately seven out of 240 radiation therapy posts are filled. This has the direct impact that valuable life-saving machines are not operating at their full capacity and across the country RT machines, which cost millions of euro, are lying idle because of the lack of qualified staff.

According to the HSE national service plan for 2023, just over three in four people assessed received radiation therapy within 15 days. This is vital for the fast-growing tumours. In 2018, four in five people were being seen on time.

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