Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I do not disagree with any word Deputy Feighan has said in relation to this. The fact is that we are almost there, but that is not good enough for anybody who is travelling today with regard to wheelchair accessibility and having a toilet on board for those travelling from Sligo to Galway. It is a long enough spin as it is, especially when they are going for a specific treatment to support their cancer journey. I will give the Deputy a commitment here on the floor that I will go back to the Department this morning and ask it to make contact with the old CHO 1, as we called it, to see whether a sensible approach can happen. Notwithstanding the fact that we are two weeks out from a budget, we would be hopeful that money might free up after the budget. I will give the Deputy that commitment, however. He has raised a really important item. It probably points to the question that there are ad hoc arrangements all over the country in relation to transportation for people with cancer who are availing of radiotherapy supports. I also want to commend the community that raised €50,000. That is not easy to do, and well done to them. As I said, €150,000 is there now. I am not really sure how much a bus would cost, but if it is 80% of it, we are not too far out. Hopefully, a solution can be found very quickly. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue.

See this speech in context