Hospital Equipment
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Colm Burke (FG), Cork North-Central

In 2016 access to radiation therapy within 15 days was 86.4% and in 2019 it was 86.5%. Last year it was 78.7%. It has dropped. In fact, in 2024 it was down to 64.7%. Part of the problem is machines breaking down. There is a need for a national radiotherapy equipment replacement programme. I know the programme is starting but it is about whether we can do it faster over the next four years. We will be in Government for this period of time so let us make a serious effort. We have the expertise and we need to make sure we have ring-fenced capital funding to replace four machines per year over the next three to four years so that we have a large number of machines replaced. This will create efficiency.
As I said earlier, all of the figures clearly indicate, because the population has increased dramatically over the past 20 years and we also have people living longer so we have an older population, that we are more likely to have more people identified with cancer. Therefore, more people will require treatment. Time is of the essence in providing treatment and it is very important that we have the best quality machines available so the staff can do this. This treatment cures up to 40% of cancers. It is extremely important that we give it priority over the next three to four years and set out a clear plan of capital funding. We must remember that when we are replacing the machines we will have delays because one or two fewer machines will be available. This is why we need to roll it on as fast as possible.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10