Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I believe the Deputy Leader attended the event earlier in Buswells Hotel for the cancer centre plans for the west and the north west for Saolta Hospital Group. Unfortunately, the health outcomes for cancer in the west are below par and below average when compared with the rest of the country. One in two of us will get cancer at some stage in our lives. Cancer treatment and proper treatment is hugely important across the State, especially in the west to bring us up to the average at least, or above average, in relation to healthcare. Unfortunately, we have had decades of underinvestment in healthcare in the west. Galway is the centre of excellence for cancer services and there are plans for a new cancer centre with inpatient beds as part of the national development plan. Treatment is top class in the facilities there, but new and more modern facilities are required. People must travel long distances, be it from Letterkenny or parts of Sligo, to avail of cancer services. That is the model. It is the world best practice model in having centres of excellence and people travelling to them. The biggest concern the consultants have in that regard is about providing beds and ensuring there are beds for the patients when they do arrive. The Inis Aoibhinn facility on the grounds of University Hospital Galway provides a free and very important service for patients who travel. They do an excellent job there but they are heavily reliant on fundraising services across the country.

I ask the Deputy Leader for a debate on the capital plan as it relates to health. There is sufficient interest in projects across the State so that it would be worth having a specific health debate on the capital plan, and on concerns about delays of many of the projects, such as the one for Galway relating to the emergency department and the elective hospital, where progress is slow. I am sure there are also other examples across the State. I am asking for a particular and special debate on healthcare in the context of the national capital plan.