Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank her for coming in. I have a letter in my hand from the national cancer control programme, NCCP, detailing how the HSE is failing to meet its radiation treatment target of 90%. This target aims to have those who are deemed fit for radiation treatment to begin the treatment within 15 days. The 10% buffer is there to allow for exceptions where a patient is too ill for treatment, does not show up or dies in the interim. The NCCP has told us that in 2024, the national rate of compliance with the target was a mere 72.8%. It has given us a snapshot of the data for each month from September 2023 to August 2024 in Beaumont Hospital, Galway hospital and Cork University Hospital. The 90% target was never met in any of those months in Beaumont Hospital. It was met once in Galway hospital and only twice in Cork University Hospital. The target is being missed by a scandalous margin and, as a result, patient care is being compromised.

Nearly every family in Ireland has gone through the experience of a loved one being diagnosed with cancer. Having to wait for treatment brings additional and unnecessary stress to patients and their family members. Timely access to cancer treatment is critical in achieving the best possible patient outcomes. The earlier treatment begins, the greater the chance of success, significantly improving survival rates and quality of life. Any delay in initiating therapy can allow the disease to progress, reducing the effectiveness of interventions.

International research has demonstrated severe consequences of treatment delays. Studies indicate that even a four-week delay in starting cancer treatment can increase the risk of death by approximately 10%. Four weeks might not sound like much on paper, but for a person battling cancer it is an eternity. It is four weeks of stress, uncertainty and potentially the disease advancing while they wait. Delays due to resource shortages, administrative inefficiencies or a lack of capacity can have life-threatening consequences.

Ensuring adequate staff and facilities and streamlined processes is essential in giving every patient the best possible chance of survival. We need to ensure that when a person is diagnosed with cancer and is deemed fit for treatment, there is absolutely no delay on the part of the health service. When a person has cancer, it is often a race against time. Even the language of the response issued to us from the NCCP is concerning in that it talks about working days. We in Aontú believe that cancer treatment should be available on weekends and public holidays. Cancer does not stop spreading on a Friday evening and resume on a Monday morning. Therefore, treatment should not either.

Staffing is, of course, an issue here, with a 30% shortage of radiotherapists in the country. The national radiation therapist review report was completed in 2024. The recommendations of this review include opportunities to improve staff recruitment and retention, including the implementation of new roles such as advanced practice and aid roles and a review of the grading structure for the radiation therapist profession.I call on the Minister of State to provide proper and decent pay and conditions for nurses and doctors, who are currently voting with their feet and leaving the country, to ensure the highest standard of care for these vulnerable people.