Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)

Independent Ireland is proud to speak in strong support of this Bill today. This Bill speaks to the very core of fairness, common sense and compassion in public policy. It is a simple but powerful measure that will make a real difference in the lives of thousands of our people who have already been through hell and back. The financial discrimination faced by cancer survivors in Ireland is an ongoing quiet injustice. Survivors, who are ordinary men and women, mothers and fathers, workers and neighbours are being punished financially for something they have already overcome with unimaginable courage. These are people who have beaten the odds, endured the hardest years of their lives and yet face fresh barriers when they try to move forward like higher insurance premiums, denied mortgages and repeated invasive questions about their past. This is not acceptable in a modern, fair and compassionate republic.

Ireland's cancer survival rate has improved dramatically in recent decades thanks to advances in medicine and better healthcare. More than 220,000 people are living with or beyond cancer in Ireland today. These are not statistics. These are families, communities and lives that are reclaimed. Despite this medical progress our financial system remains stuck in the past. Ireland lags behind countries like France, Belgium and the Netherlands where this right is already protected in law. Insurance Ireland's voluntary code is welcome, but voluntary is not enough. Voluntary codes do not deliver certainty, accountability or enforceability. Why does this Bill matter? This is not a technical or financial issue. It is a question of dignity, fairness and equality. People who have survived cancer should not have to carry that label like a financial scarlet letter for the rest of their lives. After five years, post-treatment survivors deserve the right to move forward free from unfair discrimination. The Bill will ensure they cannot be penalised or excluded from financial services solely due to past illness. Their privacy is protected and there is no need to disclose what should no longer be relevant. There are penalties for financial institutions that refuse to respect these new standards.

This is about putting an end to unnecessary punishment. If medicine says they are clear, the law should say the same. It is about sovereignty and common sense regulations. We should not need Brussels to tell us how to treat our citizens with fairness. We should make our own laws. The law should serve people, especially those who have already suffered. This is the State standing by them. We know too well how faceless corporations can wield disproportionate powers. The Bill restores balance with a clear legal definition of what constitutes discrimination in this context. These are concrete protections after five years post-treatment, clear, understandable and enforceable. It shows legal recognition that cancer survivors have a right to financial inclusion and privacy, practical enforcement through fines and penalties, no room for evasion and flexibility for future Ministers to issue regulations to ensure these protections keep pace with developments.

I had a serious issue I raised in the Dáil approximately a month ago about health insurance. I will not bother naming the health insurance company now because it got resolved, but it should not have had to go the way it went. This has to be looked into at the highest level. You and I take out health insurance, which this person did in my constituency. I think he was paying €1,470 every year, thankfully without ever having to make a drawback. He got cancer and needed a special type of treatment for cancer. He was told that under his cover from the health company he had comprehensive cover. However, when he knocked on the door after many years of paying €1,470, he was told it was not that type of cover. I cannot remember the exact name of the medical treatment that gentleman needed, it was pharma something - I have it in the office - but Lord God the fight started for his very survival; fighting for your survival and fighting for your rights. He had health insurance. If company is doing it, the whole lot of them are doing it and selling it. If I have comprehensive car insurance, I expect if I went outside the gate and God forbid I hit another car, that I would have full cover. I do not understand how you can have comprehensive cover and it is not comprehensive. That is what we were led to believe all of our lives anyway. That is what this gentleman thought. He was 100% sure in a terrible time of need that he had cover, and he had that bit of relief behind him. He was told he did not and to move on, and I was told to move on, but I did not. We brought it here to the floor of Dáil Éireann and the company decided to step back and to cover the gentleman, and rightly so it should. Imagine the unimaginable upset for that family to think these were the lengths they had to go to for their rights.

How many more have been treated like that? How many more did not have a voice? How many more politicians decided to ignore the plea from their constituents? Is this happening on a regular basis? I hope in this Bill going forward, which we will be supporting, that the Minister of State will look into that area too, so when they say comprehensive cancer cover, it means 100% cover. If not, they should be honest and say it is only 50% or 60% cover or whatever and name the types of cancers covered so people know when they pay that they will not be out of pocket essentially.

I commend Cancer Connect in west Cork. I have often raised the efforts of Cancer Connect in west Cork and the amount of people working there under the guidance of Helen and a fantastic team in the offices in west Cork. They deliver cancer care. They deliver a free transport service in west Cork. I was part of the organisation that was set up maybe 25 years ago. Everybody gets picked up in the community who wants to go for their chemotherapy, radiotherapy or whatever treatment they need to get. They are taken by bus from the door to the door free of charge so at least it alleviates that. If it is the case that it is a rare type of cancer and you have to be careful that it might have a spread, there is a car service. I extend a huge thank you to Helen, the working team and the car drivers. Each car driver is voluntary. Most of them are retired people who have decided to give up their time free of charge to take people to Cork for their chemotherapy and drop them home in the evening. That is great relief for people. I know the State was never asked until recently, because it is growing and growing. There is a huge number of cars on the road. Last year there was an initial promise of €50,000 under the budget and they got €50,000. They gratefully accept €50,000 and they are not complaining.

This is an area that should be looked into going forward because Cancer Connect requires full funding, with €100,000 desperately required to deliver a cancer service for people. The service has gone to Kerry and it is now being copied around the country. It is a voluntary service that deserves funding.

I am proud to see Ireland moving in step with leading European countries with this Bill, but this is about Irish people first, not Europe. We do this because it is right for Ireland. That said, harmonising with best practice strengthens our reputation for fairness and decency. Behind every statistic are people with names, families and futures, survivors trying to secure homes for their families, parents seeking life insurance for peace of mind and workers trying to rebuild their financial security after illness. They deserve better than bureaucratic suspicion and financial punishment.

This is a small legislative change but a huge change in the lives of those affected. Independent Ireland welcomes the Bill with open arms because it embodies our values. We call on all Deputies to set aside party lines and support this fair, necessary and overdue Bill. Let us ensure that survivors are celebrated, not penalised. Let us pass this Bill and send a clear message in Ireland that cancer survivors have the right not to be always remembered but to be remembered by lawmakers as citizens worthy of fairness, dignity and respect.

In my last speech in the Dáil before the summer break, I thank the Ceann Comhairle, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the ushers and all the staff in Dáil Éireann who have been most kind to us as individuals, and all TDs. I wish them the best.

I would appreciate if Cancer Connect were to become an issue, especially in west Cork and we looked at delivery there. In fairness, the Taoiseach came down to Bantry last year and spoke very highly of the service. That is hugely important. The insurance companies cannot get away with the stunt they are trying to pull here by telling people they have comprehensive cover when they do not have it. That is not good enough, especially when it comes to cancer. People have enough worries on their minds when they are diagnosed with something. The last thing they want is to find out the company that promised them something, and which they spent years handing over their money to, tried to pull a scam on them. That is the way I look at it and I cannot see how any other person could see it otherwise. The insurance company was not genuine in this case and left somebody in a bad way. Thankfully, the matter was resolved but it is not have happened.

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