Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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230. To ask the Minister for Health her views on the HSE’s growing reliance on outsourcing radiotherapy services to private providers; the steps she is taking to reverse this trend; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24089/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to improving cancer care, ensuring better prevention, maintaining improvements in cancer survival rates, and timely access to treatments including radiotherapy.

The demand for radiotherapy services is increasing year-by-year in line with expectations identified by the National Cancer Registry of Ireland and the HSE National Cancer Control Programme.

The HSE is working to enhance its radiotherapy capacity. Measures underway include increasing staffing, modernising radiotherapy equipment, and increasing efficiency and efficacy of treatments provided to patients.

There is a national and international shortage of radiation therapists. However, radiation therapist staffing deficits in public settings in Ireland have been reduced by almost half in the last 12 months and continue to improve. This has meant a reduction from a vacancy rate of 30% in 2024 to 15% in St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network and University Hospital Galway and 22% in Cork University Hospital in 2025.

A planned radiotherapy equipment replacement programme is in place and is working to update equipment across St. Luke's Radiation Oncology Network and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin as a priority.

Additional measures to improve access to radiotherapy services include the clinical implementation of advanced radiotherapy technology and the implementation of national clinical guidelines on radiotherapy. The guidelines advise on appropriate treatment approaches, including the delivery of a reduced number of treatments in a course of radiation therapy, in certain tumour types. This evidence-informed approach to radiotherapy reduces side effects for patients while maintaining treatment efficacy. It also helps improve patient throughput and resource utilisation.