Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Harmon, and she will be following up the Department of further and higher education. On the 0.5 rate, I am not precisely certain what the date is but it is perhaps something the Senator might follow up on directly with the Department. I will bring it to the attention of the officials and ask that they respond to the Senator on that point. I am assuming it is a relatively up-to-date because the figure we have quoted in terms of staffing is an up-to-date one.

I thank Senator Harmon for her contribution on this matter. Successive national cancer control programmes have delivered continued improvements in outcomes for Irish cancer patients, developing radiotherapy services and ensuring improved outcomes for patients with less invasive treatment and fewer side effects. The benefit of our strategic approach to cancer control is shown by the improvement in the number of patients living after receiving a cancer diagnosis, which currently is 220,000 compared with 150,000 when the strategy was brought to the Government in 2017.

On the point the Senator made about the 0.5 rate and what date, I will follow up with the officials on that and have them correspond with her. Might I suggest that she writes to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, as well seeking clarification on that particular point.