Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the presence of members of the Irish Cancer Society. It is very important they should be here for this debate. I also welcome the Minister of State. I acknowledge especially the work of Senator Kyne in the preparation of the motion, which is a very appropriate one, especially given the day that is in it.

We must examine the key structures of the cancer strategy to make sure they are funded so that it can be a key plank of our approach going forward. I wish to raise two issues. One is about new drugs and how we must put a scheme in place to make sure new drugs are a major part of the cancer strategy and are available when needed. We must look beyond Ireland in that regard and have a European focus when it comes to new drugs. We are a small country with just over 5 million people and our purchasing power is quite small. The European Union must play a role in making sure new drugs are made available in a similar way to how it acted when the vaccine for Covid was made available and purchased. We need a change of policy because we face an unfortunate dilemma at the moment due to the current rebate system that is slow, to say the very least.

There is also a clash between private and public cancer care. Patients in the private system can get new cancer drugs faster than on the public system, which unfortunately has a knock-on effect and leads to a two-tier system. We must take a different view on how we will ensure new drugs are made available to patients. The pharmaceutical industry in Ireland is a world leader. We have the drugs in Ireland, or they could be made in Ireland, and we must find a solution to the fact that patients in this country cannot avail of them. I appeal for a change in strategy in that regard.

The other issue I want to raise is one I have continually raised, namely, skin cancer. Unfortunately, it is the commonest cancer in Ireland. We are very much aware of the issue. I lost a brother to skin cancer in 2009. He was only 37 years of age. More work needs to be done on education about skin cancer to make sure people are aware of what needs to happen. We all know about moles and that they might need to be examined. Sunscreen is another issue that needs to be raised. It baffles me that we have a VAT rate of 23% on sunscreen. It is considered to be a lotion. I do not even think we should charge for sunscreen. It should be given out free of charge because of the potential it could have to save people's lives. A different approach is needed to skin cancer in particular. We must redouble our efforts and have a campaign on it. We must ensure there is education on sunscreen for kids. It is a basic thing we need to start talking about. It must start in the schools but it must also happen in industry, for example, construction, fishing and agriculture. They need to be a major focus in dealing with the issue. Those involved in construction do health and safety courses but that is not so much the case in agriculture. Education on skin cancer must be a key plank of the approach to make sure people are aware of what they need to do daily to protect themselves if they are working outdoors. A campaign in that regard must be devised because there could be real benefits if we get it right.

This is a very important debate. Unfortunately, cancer has touched every family in this room and in this House. We must try to ensure we can have meaningful change to have the outcomes we seek and desire.