Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senators for their participation in this debate. The main purpose of the Bill is to give further effect to the Government's cancer control strategy and, in particular, the development of radiation oncology services under the national plan for radiation oncology.

The Bill provides for the discontinuance of the infectious diseases maintenance allowance, originally introduced in 1947. It provides for technical amendments to the Nursing Home Support Scheme Act 2009 and the Health (Nursing Homes) Act 1990 to assist in their interpretation. It also makes a technical amendment to the Health Act 2007, which relates to decisions taken under section 55 of that Act. It makes textual amendments to the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 to correct typographical errors.

The incidence of cancer is continuing to rise, as figures from our national cancer registry show. We must have the necessary radiation oncology facilities to meet requirements to ensure the best possible outcomes for cancer patients are achieved. By the beginning of 2011 with the establishment of the St. Luke's network, radiation oncology services will be provided at St. Luke's Hospital, St. James's Hospital and Beaumont Hospital. The number of linear accelerators will increase from eight at St. Luke's Hospital to 12 in the network. High quality radiotherapy services will be delivered in an integrated fashion across the three Dublin sites by the network, which will report to the director of the national cancer control programme.

The new facilities at St. Luke's Hospital will open in 2010 and those at Beaumont Hospital will open in early 2011. St. Luke's Hospital will also continue to provide radiotherapy until at least 2014. Additional funding and staffing have been provided this year to the national cancer control programme to open the services at St. Luke's Hospital and Beaumont Hospital. Twelve beds will be available in both hospitals for radiotherapy patients. The new facilities will ensure sufficient capacity for patients until 2015, when additional facilities and capacity will be completed under phase 2 of the national plan for radiation oncology.

To answer Senators Cummins and Phelan, the Government is firmly committed to its decision under phase 2 for a radiotherapy centre in Waterford by 2015. The HSE pays for public patients in Waterford to be treated in the local private radiotherapy clinic in Whitfield.

The Hollywood report on the development of radiation oncology services noted that optimal treatment outcomes are achieved through the close co-ordination of radiation, surgical and medical oncology and palliative care services. Effective treatment for patients will often require these treatment modalities to be combined simultaneously or at different stages during the management of illness. Single modality radiation therapy is curative in certain situations. However, combined modality treatment uses radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy, surgery and other treatments. In advanced cancers and in conjunction with palliative care, palliative radiation therapy often offers quick and effective relief from pain and other difficult symptoms. Therefore, it is essential that radiation oncology services and expertise operate side by side with surgical and medical oncology and palliative services. The integration of these services provided at designated cancer centres under the cancer programme should result in the best outcomes for patients.

During the Bill's passage through the Dáil, people expressed concerns about the future use of St. Luke's Hospital and fears that the intention was to sell the site. This is not the case, as St. Luke's Hospital will continue to provide radiotherapy services until at least 2014. After that time, it is the Minister's intention to use the site for health care purposes yet to be determined. In answer to Senator Prendergast, the Minister has met the chair of the board a number of times. She will meet the Friends of St. Luke's on 8 July to hear that group's proposals on the hospital's future after 2014. Colorectal cancer screening will commence in early 2012 and the preparatory work is under way. Screening will be offered to all people aged between 60 and 69 years.