Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is really important to look at where we are versus the rest of Europe in terms of the impact of the investment we deliver. The most important impact is that people are living longer and recovering from cancer and living with and beyond cancer. When we talk about investment, that is what we are trying to achieve. Of course we want to use the resources we have in a way that will deliver the best return on our investment for all of our people. I have spent some time on this. Report after report, whether it is the OECD country cancer profile or the EU analysis, shows that Ireland is doing better beyond its European peers in its cancer performance and mortality rates.

The Deputy is right that there were measures of delayed diagnoses during a period where the health system was shut down for the benefit of the broader community with a highly transmissible lethal virus that was killing many people in this country. The Deputy is right that there was an impact in that respect, but notwithstanding that, our cancer strategy is trying not just to address that but is also trying to make sure we are delivering on the additional services brought by the previous two strategies.

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