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

I will raise with the Minister for Health the Senator's points about bringing in lung cancer screening and extending breast cancer screening to younger people. With regard to the Senator's point about multi-annual funding, I will ask about that in the Vote in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and see what the situation is because most things now involve multi-annual funding. The Senator acknowledged that most people diagnosed with cancer now survive. At the time my mother was diagnosed with cancer, most people died. That is the change and the Senator has acknowledged that.

The strategies have shown the benefit of continued investment in national cancer services and the Government has shown its commitment to implementing the national cancer strategy through significant investment in recent years. The new development funding provided in those years has been added to the total budget for cancer services and an additional €230 million since 2017 has been added through the strategy.

A total of 215,000 people living in Ireland have had a diagnosis of invasive cancer. The NCCP has progressed survivorship programmes to support improved quality of life for cancer patients. As part of this, the NCCP established the alliance of community cancer support centres. They provide guidance and support, which in turn provide psychosocial supports for cancer patients and their families in the community.

In discussing funding for our national cancer strategy, we must remember that 23,000 people receive a diagnosis of invasive cancer each year and cancer is a public health issue. One in three of us can expect to be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime. The additional funding has gone into services under this Government and has been of direct benefit to cancer patients. This remains the top priority for this Government but I thank the Senator for the points she made, which I will raise with the Minister for Health.