Cancer Services: Motion [Private Members] Dail Éireann — 2026-03-24 ============================================================ Kieran O'Donnell (FG), Limerick City I join with other colleagues across the House in acknowledging the great work of all healthcare workers, including medical, nursing and administrative staff and others throughout the health service. They do fantastic work. This year will mark the 13th anniversary of the launch of Ireland’s first national cancer strategy and is an opportune time to reflect on the progress made since 1996 and to look ahead to how we advance and build on what has been achieved. The Government recognises the objective of the Sinn Féin motion in seeking to provide the best possible care for cancer patients now and into the future. Many of the points that have been raised will be brought back to the Minister. All of us in the House share that goal and are working to ensure the very best outcomes for patients and their families. However, the Government is opposing the motion and has tabled a countermotion setting out our clear commitment and the detailed actions we are taking to drive further improvements in cancer services. It is important to point out that the Opposition motion does not recognise the levels of investment and funding provided under the current cancer strategy, with €105 million allocated to new developments, along with €44 million in cancer research funding, €140 million on capital projects and €645 million on cancer drugs between 2021 and 2024. Notably, the motion attempts to place Sláintecare wait-time targets into law, a measure this House debated and voted not to support just four months ago. With over 24,000 invasive cancers diagnosed each year, the National Cancer Registry predicts that one in two people will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, as a Member referred to earlier. While a large proportion of cancers are preventable, the reality is that ageing is a key driving factor behind the increase in cancers. As the Irish population ages and grows, the number of people diagnosed with invasive cancer is expected to grow by between 50% and 100% over the 30-year period from 2015 to 2045. Alongside an increase in numbers, the cancer burden is rapidly expanding as it becomes, for many people, a chronic disease they live with for many years. Fortunately, this is a good marker, as the number of people surviving a cancer diagnosis is growing all the time. In the latest reporting period, 2019 to 2022, over 65% of patients were alive five years after a cancer diagnosis, up from 43% in the period 1994 to 1998. Over 220,000 patients are alive today, having received a cancer diagnosis at some point. We have seen very good progress in the detection and treatment of many of the most common cancers, and in the case of breast cancer for example, five-year net survival has grown from 71% for the 1994-98 period to 87.5% for the 2019-2022 period. Breast cancer survivors are the largest cancer survivor group in Ireland, representing 22% of all cancer survivors and nearly 50,000 women. For prostate cancer we have seen the five-year survival rate go from 66% in the early 1990s to 93% in the most recent data and we now have 46,500 survivors of prostate cancer. Of course, far too many people still have their lives cut short by cancer and I join Deputies across the House in wishing to ensure that our health services strive to deliver the very best cancer care for patients. The progress we have made would not have been possible without the evidence-based, whole-of-population approach taken under our three consecutive, decades-spanning national cancer strategies. The international evidence demonstrates that sustained progress in cancer control is best achieved through the consistent implementation of appropriately designed and resourced cancer strategies. Research published by The Lancet in 2022 reported that Ireland’s cancer strategies, dating back to 1996, were a significant factor in improving cancer outcomes. Furthermore, a study published by Professor Mark Lawler in January of this year in the Journal of Cancer Policy evaluated national cancer strategies across 20 countries and ranked Ireland among the highest in policy development and governance scores. The EU and the WHO continue to advise that cancer control is optimised through the development and implementation of national cancer control plans and strategies. We can be thankful that many patients will become cancer-free following their treatment but, for others, their cancer will be chronic conditions requiring prolonged surveillance and episodes of treatment over many years, with the associated significant implementations for service demand. With the development of the next cancer strategy, we will continue to progress our structured and strategic approach to the delivery of cancer services. Investment under the strategy has ensured that more patients are being seen in specialist centres, more patients are being reviewed by multidisciplinary teams, new drugs and therapies are being made available, patients are receiving better supports during their cancer treatment, psycho-oncology services have been developed and major advances are being delivered for adolescents and young adults. With regard to the workforce, our investment in infrastructure, research, medicines and staff focuses on providing the best possible outcomes for patients. However, these improvements would not be realised without the commitment of those working in our health service and the dedication they bring to their work, which I and many others have alluded to. In the past five years, we have increased the overall health workforce by 27%. Since the launch of the current national cancer strategy, we have added over 200 additional nursing staff, 100 consultants and 180 health and social care professionals in designated cancer centres. At the same time, we have fostered and expanded pioneering services, creating new roles and teams in psycho-oncology, genetic services and cancer prevention. Working in collaboration with the higher education sector, significant progress is also being made in increasing the number of student training places. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Lawless, recently announced a €28.5 million investment in 2026 to support the delivery of more than 1,100 additional healthcare training places annually over the next three years across medicine, nursing, therapy professions, pharmacy and dentistry. While we are adding more training places and funding more students, we are also ensuring that more graduates are retained in our health service. A mandate was introduced in March 2025 offering all nursing and midwifery and health and social care profession graduates of Irish colleges permanent contracts of employment when successful at interview. This mandate includes radiation therapist and radiography graduates, who are crucial for cancer services. In parallel with an increase in staff numbers, it is important that we maximise the existing workforce. The expansion and rollout of the public-only consultant contract, along with the revised 2025 framework agreement with health sector trade unions, provides a strong platform to support the extension of services. Health regions are actively leveraging these arrangements to progress delivery of services in the evenings and at weekends across a range of areas, including diagnostics, patient pathways and community services. As we invest in staff and expertise, we are also investing heavily in infrastructure and technology. Major infrastructure projects opened under the national cancer strategy include state-of-the-art radiotherapy centres in Cork and Galway in 2019 and 2023, respectively, at a cost of over €120 million and the establishment of a national cervical screening laboratory, which opened in December 2022. The 2025 national development plan review resulted in the largest ever capital investment plan in the history of the State and the largest investment ever in health infrastructure in the State. Investment in cancer care, particularly in equipment for radiation oncology, is a key strategic priority. Through the national plan for radiation oncology, the Department of health is progressing a major equipment replacement and expansion programme that includes replacing 14 linear accelerators in the St. Luke's Radiation Oncology Network and adding two at Beaumont, with associated diagnostic upgrades. In light of the limited time I have, I will leave the rest of the written statement and go straight to the closing remarks. I once again thank the Deputies for the opportunity to discuss cancer care for patients in Ireland, the progress we have made and our commitment to continuously improve cancer services in Ireland. I acknowledge our shared commitment to improving the lives of cancer patients. On behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, I ask Deputies to support the Government's countermotion. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-24/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:03+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-24