Victor Boyhan (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State and officials from the Department of Health. I particularly welcome our guests in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery and, of course, Rebecca. It is so great to see her and looking so well. I thank Gerard and Helen for sharing their and Rebecca's story. I do not think Senator Craughwell would have ventured in here without Rebecca's blessing. I know Rebecca, having had the opportunity to talk to her in the past. Rebecca, Helen and Gerard's story is remarkable. When he tells their story in here, it is a very powerful testimony and shines a light on a particular issue.

I also thank the people from the Dublin Dental University Hospital.It is not too often that so many distinguished, capable and able experts come to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery to bear witness to the debate in this House with regard to that. I will not be a cynic, but I am here long enough to know that many motions are debated but they tend to go on a shelf and we hear no more about them. I particularly welcome the proposal by Senator Clonan, who is also a member of the Independent group. I might say that all of us now on this side of the House are members of the Seanad Independent group. I am proud to lead that group and I am proud of its achievements. We keep our focus on being advocates. We are politicians, but we are also advocates. We advocate for particular issues, and we unite and work together to highlight and shine a light in particular areas.

I also take this opportunity to thank Senator Craughwell's staff. I know how committed they are to the Senator and to the causes he champions. That is important. The level of input that has been made in the preparation of this motion has come from their office. It has also come from Rebecca's lived experience, of course. I acknowledge that it has also come from Senator McDowell and Samantha, and their office, with the preparation of briefing documents and bringing people on board. It is very important, as the Minister of State has said, that the Government is not opposing it. Why would the Government oppose it? How could the Government oppose it, quite frankly? I thank the Minister of State for reading a difficult and long official response - no doubt it came from the Department - that clearly had the approval of the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, which would be the right thing anyway. I thank the Minister of State for taking us through all of that.

I also make an ask of the Members of this House, of all sides, who have parliamentary party meetings. It so happens that some Senators will have a parliamentary party meeting tonight. I have no doubt there will be other things exercising their minds tonight. However, I ask them to keep this issue live. I ask them to bring it to their party leaders, to the Taoiseach and to the Cabinet members they work and network with. They respect the Members. The Members respect them. They are in government. We will of course engage with Government Ministers, who engage with us all the time. Those who look in on us from outside sometimes forget that this is a political establishment. We collaborate well together. We work well together. It is incumbent on all 60 Members of Seanad Éireann, on all sides of the House, to use our contacts with Government Ministers to progress this. As Senator Clonan said, it is important to keep the focus with the Joint Committee on Health. That is important. It is also important to prepare, and to ask Government and Opposition TDs to prepare, parliamentary questions to highlight the issue.

Let us not go out of here feeling pleased that we have articulated something we all know about, because everyone in this room is convinced. We need to get out of here and we need to convince other people. We need to convince the policy makers. We need to convince the people who hold the strings in terms of recruitment, resources and funding. That is important. There are many aspects to cancer and many demands on cancer services, but today we are focusing on head, neck and throat cancer, and all of the issues around that. That is really important, and that speciality is a focus of our debate here.

I again thank Senator Craughwell for sharing what is a family story and a lived family experience. I thank Rebecca, who has allowed her story and journey to be shared with us. It makes it so much easier to communicate when you are talking to the person, exchanging with the person and sharing their concerns. She is brave and courageous, but she is a champion. Tonight we are having this debate basically on foot of her experience, and that of the professionals accompanying and supporting her tonight. It is a great privilege for them and for us in this House that they are present. They have made a difference to this debate for many of us who have been here a long time. When people who are directly involved in the issues we are debating come to sit among us in the Upper House of the Oireachtas, it is special and meaningful. No doubt we will have an opportunity to chat afterwards. I thank everyone involved.