Mary Henry (Independent)

This doubling has come from a figure close to zero. This will not do. The Health Research Board is of course doing tremendous work in cancer research, but the population is not getting the benefit.

Senator Browne mentioned that two oncologists left Cork and went to Dublin due to lack of facilities and backup. I had great trouble in persuading an oncologist in another centre, which I will not mention, to stay here. He told me he had no beds despite being back two years from America. He stated he was going to return to America because he was so sickened by the matter, although I persuaded him to stay. We have good people here and we should have a much better service.

The Government is not taking this issue seriously enough. Senator O'Toole was correct in stating that if we heard that 640 people would die from avian flu next year, there would be chaos. The same number of women will die from breast cancer. Thousands are cured of breast cancer in this country, and the disease is curable now. We must increase the numbers of people in this country who are cured of cancer, and not congratulate ourselves for the little bits and pieces we are doing here and there.