Brendan Kenneally (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter and I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is an important matter for the people of Waterford and the south east region. I have never seen a region so united on any issue as the people of the south east are on this one. The Irish Society of Medical Oncologists has made the following submission to the National Cancer Forum:

The members of ISMO consider the development of comprehensive cancer centres to be the major cancer care requirement urgently needed under the next phase of the national cancer strategy. We recommend that these centres be developed at eight sites currently providing major cancer care in Ireland. These are Cork University Hospital, the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, University College Hospital, Galway, Waterford Regional Hospital, St. Vincent's University Hospital, the Mater Hospital, Beaumont Hospital and St. James's Hospital.

These are the experts in their field. They would not suggest this was the level of care required if they did not think it was in the interest of their patients and of the population in general. The society's submission is a balanced one, particularly in view of the fact that representation on the body which formulated the submission has a regional balance to it.

The same could not be said of the group, which formulated the Hollywood report. It was largely made up of consultants and medical people from Dublin and Cork. They had their own agenda, which is only natural. If people from Waterford or Limerick had produced a similar report their bias might go in a different direction. The bias in the Hollywood report is skewed in a certain way. The Hollywood group also set out to justify the supra-regional concept, which is used in some larger countries. It will not work in Ireland because of our lack of infrastructure. The group should have looked at models in countries such a New Zealand and Norway.

An attempt was made to keep the ISMO submission quiet. The Cancer Care Alliance submitted a freedom of information request and got what it thought were all the documents relevant to the Hollywood report. The alliance subsequently discovered that the ISMO document had not been made available to it. This is disturbing. Why was it suppressed? Was it because it went against the tenor of the Hollywood report? Were all the members of the Cabinet aware of this vital piece of information?

There is a song, with the lyrics that "two out of three ain't bad." However, two out of three is bad for cancer care in the south east region. Waterford Regional Hospital's cancer service consists of surgery and chemotherapy but not radiotherapy. This is a nonsense. The entire range of facilities should be available together. The facilities for cancer patients in Waterford Regional Hospital are sub-standard. There is no proper dedicated oncology unit.

There is a tremendous oncology unit in the University Hospital in Limerick. The mid-western region, which the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, represents, is also seeking radiotherapy facilities. The people of that region are right to demand that service. Given the size of the region they also should have radiotherapy but at least they have a fully functioning dedicated oncology unit. We do not have such a unit in Waterford.

BreastCheck is turning out to be a joke. It was announced in March 2003 but I am informed that we are unlikely to have the service in Waterford until 2006. Once again, the people of Waterford are being treated as second class citizens. They are being told that if they want mammography they must go to Cork. This is not good enough.

We were promised proper travelling facilities for people who had to access radiotherapy facilities in other areas. Recently I heard of an old man who was given a 7 a.m. appointment, which is not suitable for someone who has to travel. He was to have 26 daily radiotherapy sessions. He was told to take the appointment or leave it. The South Eastern Health Board did not have a transport infrastructure in place and had to provide a taxi for this patient. It is nonsense to say travel facilities are available or that access will be provided to other regions. It is not happening.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children has made great play of the additional funding she hopes to be given for the health services in the forthcoming Estimates and budget. She is right to tackle the problems in the accident and emergency service but there is also a serious problem in cancer care. Cancer is the only disease, which will touch every family in the country. One cannot say that of any other disease. I plead with the Minister to ensure that sufficient funding is provided so that proper care can be given to cancer patients.