Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for her contribution on this matter. I acknowledge the efforts made by the NCCP and the HSE to improve compliance with radiation therapy targets of having at least 90% of patients beginning their treatment within 15 working days of being deemed fit for treatment.

The most up-to-date figures, from January 2025, show compliance of 81% compared with last year's compliance of 73%. I know that we need to do more, I totally understand the concerns there and it is something we are working on. As I mentioned earlier, staffing shortfall can be a significant factor in hospitals meeting the treatment target. While staffing continues to improve, more progress is needed and funding has been given this year to the implementation of recommendations of the national radiation therapist review report. Downtime and the servicing of radiotherapy equipment can also result in challenges to treatment times and that seems to be another issue. The HSE makes every effort to address this, including through the use of outsourcing where required. This enables more timely access while improvements regarding staffing and other issues are being made.

The additional €23 million made available in budget 2025 for the national cancer strategy will support a further expansion in cancer services. This funding means that over €105 million has been invested in the strategy since 2017. I again thank the Senator for raising this issue. I understand that there is not a family in Ireland that has not been affected in some way by cancer. It is a priority for us as a Government.