Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I, too, would like to wish Senator Wilson a happy birthday. Reaching the new figure of 21 is always wonderful and I know he will enjoy himself as he always does. We wish him well.

The debate on last night's Private Members' motion was very powerful and some of the contributions were outstanding. I commend the House on having a good quality, respectful debate and it was good to have the Minister for State, Deputy Brophy, in for it as well. Along with the Leas-Chathaoirleach, the Leader and others, I attended the audiovisual room this morning for a powerful presentation on pancreatic cancer. I second the proposal that the House have a debate specific to the national cancer strategy. We need due diligence on the strategy we are coming to the end of and a briefing on what is proposed for the next one.

Cancer supports in this country overall are actually excellent and when cancers are caught in time the results and what can be achieved are amazing. However, when they are not caught in time, there is the problem. Something that was not achieved in the current cancer strategy was early diagnosis of some cancers, pancreatic cancer certainly being one of them. I know that whatever the condition is, whether it is people losing their eyesight or having a hearing impairment, if it is caught in time, there is some chance that a lot can be saved. For example, four in five people who lose their sight in this country do so unnecessarily because of lack of early diagnosis.

Something probably needs to be done to encourage people to do more screening of their health in general, but certainly of their senses. When it comes to early diagnosis the Government has a huge role to play. Investment in early diagnosis is clever because it saves money in the long run and it gives quality of life to our citizens. That is most important. I look forward to a debate on the national cancer strategy and perhaps also a debate on screening for sensory loss.