Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Good morning to the young people and teachers. Just to let them know what is happening, Senator Catherine Ardagh is asking me,representing the Government, how we spend money to cure cancer. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Health to answer the question.

I thank Senator Ardagh for raising this question. Successive national cancer strategies have shown the benefits of continued investment in national cancer services. The benefits for Irish cancer patients come from earlier diagnosis, better treatment and improved rates of survival.

This Government has invested an additional €40 million into the national cancer strategy, and the total cumulative additional funding under this strategy since 2017 is €230 million. This funding has enabled the recruitment of more than 670 staff to our national cancer services since 2017, including an additional 200 nursing staff, 100 consultants and 180 health and social care professionals in designated cancer centres. Additionally, €30 million has been invested in cancer screening services since 2020, including €20 million for the development of the National Cervical Screening Laboratory, which opened in December 2022. Capital funding of €120 million has been used to provide state-of-the-art radiation oncology facilities in Cork and Galway, which opened in 2020 and 2023. This is to update cancer infrastructure in chemotherapy wards and lab facilities for the benefit of patients.

This Government has also allocated significant investment in ensuring new medicines are available for cancer patients. Funding for 61 different cancer drugs over the past three years has been made possible through an allocation of €98 million additional funding for new medicines. The total spend on cancer drugs in the past three years has been more than €600 million. Since 2020, new cancer treatments and models of care have been launched in Ireland thanks to the increased funding for the national cancer strategy. New treatments include CAR T-cell therapy for certain blood cancers, radioligy and therapy for neuroendocrine tumour patients and the stereotactic ablative radiotherapy, or SABR, an advanced radiotherapy treatment.Nine out of ten cancers are diagnosed following on from individuals presenting to their GP with symptoms. This is supported through GPs having access to electronic referral for breast, lung, prostate and suspected skin cancers. More patients are being seen now than ever before in rapid access clinics, with more than 53,000 attendances in 2023.

Early intervention in cancer is extremely important. As part of the urgent and emergency care plan this year, time-sensitive cancer surgeries are given priority where possible. The NCCP engages closely with designated centres to monitor the activity of surgical services. By the end of 2023, more than 17,000 cancer surgeries were carried out. This is in excess of 1,000 more than in 2019.

Under successive cancer strategies, there has been an improvement in cancer survival rates in Ireland. Looking back to the period between 1994 and 1998, the five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with cancer in those years was 44%. This has now increased dramatically to 65% for people diagnosed with cancer between 2014 and 2018.

As cancer will affect one in three of us in our lifetime, support for cancer services and for cancer patients will continue to be prioritised as part of the overall health budget. This Government has invested heavily in the national cancer strategy and associated initiatives in recent years, enabling the further development of our national cancer services and leading to improved outcomes for cancer patients.