Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and am glad of the opportunity to make a few points. The Seanad Public Consultation Committee is one of the good news stories of the Oireachtas during this Administration. It did not exist hitherto and I wish to pay tribute to Senator Cummins, the Leader of the House, who has done his best to introduce a variety of different initiatives to this House. As he said on the Order of Business today, it is good to see that the other House is beginning to follow suit. I do not mean to be facetious about this but while we were lucky to have a journalist present for the today's Order of Business - Mr. Fiach Kelly, and fair play to him for being here - the reality is that there is nobody in the Press Gallery now. Yet this issue is important as is the public consultation that informed this succinct and factual report. It is also based on good research and has informed the Minister's consideration of the issue. He has highlighted some things that he will do on foot of the report. That is democracy in action. Is it any wonder there are difficulties in trying to put forward a case for this House when the Government on the one hand, and a willing accomplice in the media on the other, continually choose to ignore the good work, such as this, that is going on?

The members of the committee, including Senators O'Donovan, Bacik, Bradford, Cummins, Paul Coghlan, Daly, Mullen, Higgins, O'Donnell, O'Keeffe and Wilson, deserve our credit and thanks for the consultation that took place in 2012. The report is a very good one. It brought a few things home to me on obesity, the role of alcohol in breast cancer - which is not something people would ordinarily associate with it - and the sheer impact that lifestyle has on the incidence of cancer. Much can be achieved if we adjust our lifestyles.

As regards diet, people far too often reach for convenience foods which are not the best for us. Politicians who live outside Dublin may be more prone to eating meals in the car while driving. I do it several times a week from a plastic coffee cup that is probably very bad for me, and some kind of meat sandwich with additives. How many of us reach for the little tubs of fresh fruit? Probably very few.

Despite the best efforts of the Department of Health, the HSE and various Government agencies, including NGOs, that try to influence dietary and exercise regimes, there is also a whole lifestyle that is promoted by fiction on television. We all enjoy taking refuge in that from time to time. It is not always the healthiest lifestyle. For example, children's television programmes might glorify smokers, drinkers and layabouts. In Hollywood movies, such people are slim, trim and look fantastic whereas real life is very different. Should we take an interest in that, rather than the obvious things like advertising? I am not talking about censorship but we should examine standards in our entertainment that seem to trivialise a certain lifestyle as being acceptable.

It lends the false impression that that person can look as good as Hollywood actor A, B or C while having that lifestyle. That is perhaps something we might look at.

From a health perspective, the National Cancer Control Programme, NCCP, is successful statistically in terms of outcomes. I use the word "statistically" because for 80% of the country that is the case. However, it is not representative of the roll-out of services countrywide. The mission statement of the National Cancer Control Programme is "centrally developed, locally delivered". As Senator O'Keeffe will testify and, up to recently Senator Cummins could testify in regard to the south east, there are gaping holes on the map of Ireland in terms of radiotherapy, for example. That is not to suggest that we need to have a Mayo clinic or St. James's Hospital on every corner. However, we do need specialist centres that are, as per the mission statement of the NCCP, centrally developed and locally delivered. We need to at least begin to plan for the delivery of radiotherapy within a three hour, one and a half hours each way, commutable distance so that mothers who have to undergo eight minutes of radiotherapy per day and have children to care for can get home to care for them rather than have to travel to Galway or Dublin for treatment.

I do not like when the Government - the previous Government was just as guilty of this as is the current Government - takes refuge in the Queen for certain things when it comes to health. It is constantly stated by Government that it is working well with its Northern counterparts. It brings somebody in Glencolmcille who needs radiotherapy no closer to getting treatment because there is a promise of a centre for radiotherapy in Altnagelvin. Even if there were such a centre there would still be gaping wounds in parts of Ireland. Professor Tom Keane changed the landscape of northern Canada in facilitating centres for radiotherapy. While we should still go to hospitals such as St. James's and Beaumont and others in Cork and Galway for specialist treatments, diagnoses and surgery, all follow-up treatments, including radiotherapy, should be delivered in more central locations. I accept that there are costs associated with doing so in terms of the provision of accelerators and radiographers and so on. Nevertheless, it is a plan we need to put in place and aspire to, notwithstanding budgetary constraints at this time. It is something for which we must aim. Perhaps there is a private sector aspect to this in terms of funding, as has been done in other areas.

My mother who died of cancer, which from the outset was terminal, received her treatment in the Beacon Clinic. I recall that at that time brain scans were assessed for radiotherapy in Pittsburgh but delivered in Sandyford. What is proposed can be done. We have all been involved in emotive campaigns in regard to cancer services for the north west, south east and other areas. This is something that can be done. Some Government will at some time put this plan in place. Why not this one?

This is a very good report. In terms of alcohol, minimum pricing is an absolute must. It is critical that when we do this the price is set high enough. We all know that as Christmas approaches, cases of beer will be on sale in local supermarkets for €14. While if I purchased a case of beer I would still have most or a large portion of it next June, sadly younger people would consume it within two hours, which is the type of practise we need to move away from. While other Senators have a different view in regard to price fixing and so on there is a need for minimum pricing on alcohol. At a minimum, we must try it for a period. Ireland is now ranked second in the world in terms of binge drinking. We are all guilty of it.

In terms of diet, all I see in shops are multicoloured fizzy drinks. One has to search for old fashioned orange or lemonade now as virtually all the products are pink or blue and could not be good for us. The most unhealthy sweets are placed at the front of shops, near checkouts. I am sure codes of conduct could help in this regard.

In terms of exercise, physical education very much takes a back seat in the education system. While we have some schools where sport is particularly strong, for example, in the many Dublin schools which focus on rugby, not every child is involved in the local GAA, athletics or soccer club. Senator Eamonn Coghlan will be more familiar with this issue than I am. However, some level of physical activity should be made compulsory and scheduled every day, rather than once or twice or week. Adults need at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity each day, whereas children need 60 minutes of aerobic activity daily. Exercise is habit forming and becomes easy to continue if one takes part in it every day, rather than sporadically.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, for coming before the House. While I have always praised Leaders of the House, I regard Senator Cummins as the best Leader the Seanad has had on the basis that he has shown great flexibility in trying to introduce new initiatives. This does not mean he and I have not been dug out of each other in the odd debate. It is vital that this is the case as we would not be of any benefit to the political system if it were otherwise. It is sad that initiatives of this nature go unnoticed as they demonstrate that democracy works. I do not say this because there will be a referendum on the abolition of the Seanad in a few weeks. These types of initiatives show that the Oireachtas, not only the Seanad, can be used as a successful vehicle for laundering, if one likes, a message from people who have knowledge of certain issues, for example, those who provided the House with information in the consultation phase, and passing it on to the relevant Minister and officials to ensure the correct steps are taken.

I congratulate all the members of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee and the Leader and thank the Minister of State.