Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

One in three people in this country will be diagnosed with some form of cancer at some stage in their lives. There are approximately 22,000 new cases each year. Overall, the number of newly diagnosed cancers is increasing by 6% to 7% annually and unless major reversal of trends occur in the near future, the number is likely to double in the next 20 years.

It is against this background that the national cancer control programme is being implemented. Its goals are better cancer prevention, detection and survival through a national service based on evidence and best practice. Part of the programme is the implementation of the national plan for radiation oncology, originally agreed by Government in July 2005.

A key objective of the national plan for radiation oncology is that radiotherapy services should be provided as part of integrated cancer care service on single large teaching hospital sites. This does not mean that all centres providing cancer services should have radiotherapy services but it does mean that where radiotherapy is provided, it should be fully integrated with surgical and medical oncology.

The plan provides for a network of radiation oncology centres nationwide to be fully in place by 2014. The network will include four large centres for radiation oncology, two in Dublin at St. James's and Beaumont hospitals, one at Cork University Hospital and one at Galway University Hospital. There will also be two satellite radiotherapy centres at Waterford Regional Hospital and at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.

For patients in the north west, however, it is recognised that there are particular geographic concerns that need to be addressed. For that reason, the Government also decided in July 2005 that the best option for improving geographic access to radiation oncology services for patients in the north west was through North-South co-operation. Therefore, it was decided to facilitate access to Belfast City Hospital for patients needing radiation oncology treatment and a service level agreement has been in place with Belfast City Hospital for the provision of radiation oncology services to patients from Donegal since 2006. The Government also decided that over the medium term it would progress the consideration of a joint venture between North and South for the provision of services from a satellite centre in the north west linked to Belfast City Hospital.

In 2008, the Minister the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland, Michael McGimpsey, announced that a new satellite radiotherapy centre is to be established at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry, linked to Belfast City Hospital, as part of Northern Ireland's plans for provision of radiotherapy services beyond 2015. The Minister for Health and Children has agreed to explore fully the opportunity presented for further collaboration in the delivery of these services. She has agreed in principle to make a capital contribution towards the cost of this development, together with meeting the costs of patients from the Republic availing of the service.

In planning the facility at Altnagelvin, it will be important to take full account of both the infrastructural and service implications of providing services to patients from the Republic of Ireland and discussions between the two Departments continue in this regard. The Department of Health and Children awaits a business case setting out the overall costs and timeline for the development of this facility.

About half of cancer patients will require radiotherapy at some point in their illness and the aim is to ensure best outcomes for these patients regardless of location. In this context, the Minister continues to be a strong supporter of North-South co-operation in radiotherapy services, building further on the arrangements already in place for Donegal patients between the Health Service Executive and Belfast City Hospital, and warmly welcomes the proposed radiotherapy facility at Altnagelvin.