Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I welcome our guests and commend the work of the Irish Cancer Society. Cancer impacts all of us. As Senator Casey said, we do not know who will be affected by cancer next. The Minister of State will be aware that our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has spoken bravely about how she has recently dealt with cancer. It is something that impacts all aspects of Irish society.

The Minister of State is a caring and empathetic person who I know agrees with the objectives of this legislation. As everyone has said, we can all work together to achieve the objectives of the Bill. It can be amended on Committee Stage and as Senator Doherty said, elements of all legislation can be improved and that is the purpose of the process. We have an obligation here. People look to us, as legislators, to take action specifically on this matter.

I also pay tribute to the cross-party committee for its work and to Senator Ardagh. It is one of her passions within and without this Chamber. It is something about which she feels very strongly and I commend her on her work.

There is an immediate impact on the income of all cancer sufferers and cancer survivors, apart from the emotional impact and so on. If one gets a cancer diagnosis, it can impact one's ability to work and earn, and many other aspects of life. Down the line, when one looks for financial products, insurance products or mortgages, one also has to face challenges. It is not fair. As colleagues have said, we are not reinventing the wheel here. Belgium, France and the Netherlands and, from this year, Portugal and Italy have all introduced schemes which allow for fair access to financial products for those who have survived cancer. In other countries, such as Luxembourg, an agreement is in place between the department of health and the insurance companies. France was the first country to introduce such a scheme. It introduced the right to be forgotten in 2016. Let us examine the experience of the French and what happened there. In France, there are guarantees that people who are in long-term remission do not have to report their cancer history when they are applying for insurance and other products. A ten-year period was originally introduced but one of President Macron's campaign promises was to reduce that to five years. There is cross-party consensus in France to allow for that. While this is new legislation for Ireland, it is not ground-breaking. Other member states with similar challenges with regard to cancer have done this successfully. I entirely agree with Senator Sherlock's point of view that this Bill applies specifically to those who have survived cancer. I do not like the concern over unintended consequences. The legislation is clear about who it applies to. I agree with Senator Sherlock that we should be considering legislation for other illnesses. However, that is not what this legislation is about.

I ask that we expedite this legislation and move on it as quickly as we can. When we are speaking here, we are thinking about people we know who have been impacted by cancer. We know the challenges through which they have had to go. They are going to have to continue to go through some of those challenges but this is one small measure we can take to make their lives a little easier. They are still going to have to face all the other rigours when they go to the bank. We have talked about the problems with Central Bank lending rules and so on. Those people are going to have to face those same challenges. However, it is entirely unfair that somebody who is in long-term remission will have to mention that fact on an application form.

The Minister of State is hearing cross-party pleas here. I know him as a man of great empathy. I am sure he knows people who have been impacted by cancer. Can we please expedite this Bill as much as possible?