Hospital Equipment
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-05
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Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG), Dún Laoghaire

I agree with the Deputy. I would like us to be replacing equipment because we have used it so intensively. Part of this issue relates to the number of radiation therapists. There has been a very considerable expansion in that regard. We have 217 radiation therapists in Ireland, an increase of 21% since 2020. In the last six years, the radiation therapy training programme has grown by 32%, with more than 20 additional specialty training posts established in the last three years. We need the people but we also need organisation to allow these machines to be run hard. I will give an example regarding a performance indicator for radiation oncology, that is, the number completing radical treatment and the percentage commencing treatment within 15 working days in the Deputy's own area of Galway. In January 2025, the percentage was 72%, in October it was 98%, in November it was 98% and in December it was 100%. In Cork, there was a fall-off. The figure was 97% in January 2025 but fell to 91%. That is still reasonably strong but nationally we are just not where we need to be. It is about resources, organisation and consistency.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-05