Cancer Services
Seanad Éireann — 2024-02-22
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John McGahon (FG), Cultural and Educational Panel

I really thank the Minister of State for that. I could not ask for a more unequivocal response from a Minister and from this Government of which I am hugely supportive. I have always been supportive of it.
The Minister of State alluded to the issue I raise. This occurred in 2017 and a Minister for Health had to come out and stop it. An HSE bureaucrat was trying to reform the system and a Minister had to come out and publicly make a statement. This has happened again in 2024 whereby an HSE official or bureaucrat has tried to reform a system and a Minister has had to come out and refute it and say it is not going to happen on his watch. That is great and important, but there is no way that these types of things should happen or get into the public domain without either ministerial, political or Government approval. As a result of that bureaucracy getting out, it has caused a huge amount of stress. I am so happy that this Government has stood very strong behind these cancer survivors. I am also happy that we have made it unequivocally clear in black and white. This is a good response from the Government. I thank the Minister of State.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2024-02-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:42+00:00
Sitting date: 2024-02-22