I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the ministerial amendment to the motion in respect of national cancer services, which took place on Tuesday, 16 April 2024. Yesterday, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be made", a division was claimed, and in accordance with Standing Order 80(2), that division must be taken now.
National Cancer Strategy: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy David Cullinane on Tuesday, 16 April 2024:
That Dáil Éireann:
recalls that the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026, the third such strategy, was launched in 2017 with a then-estimated cost of €140 million additional current expenditure by 2026;
notes that:
— the Government has only properly funded the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 in two of the last five years and has not revised the funding requirements in light of inflation, unpredicted demographic changes, or the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic;
— only one of the 23 objectives of the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 has been met according to the latest progress report; and
— according to the European Cancer Inequalities Registry, Ireland has the second highest rate of cancer incidence in Europe and is ranked mid-table of the 27 European Union member states for cancer survival, and performs poorly in comparison to western European peers in terms of uptake of cancer screening programmes;
further notes:
— remarks made to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health on 10th April, 2024, by the Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Cancer Society, Ms Averil Power, that:
— "Inadequate Government funding and the impact of Covid-19 on cancer diagnosis and treatment means that we are no longer confident that will be the case. In fact, we are concerned that Ireland's cancer outcomes may have stagnated or even disimproved since the strategy was published";
— "In some areas, things have significantly disimproved since 2017. Waiting times for radiotherapy have increased, with expensive equipment lying idle in several hospitals due to an ongoing shortage of radiation therapists. Inequality between public and private patients is growing, particularly in terms of access to new medicines"; and
— "Our key recommendation to the committee today is a call for multiannual funding. One cannot plan for workforce, for capital or for anything properly without multi-annual funding"; and
— remarks made to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health on 10th April, 2024, by the Chair of the National Cancer Strategy Steering Group, Professor John M. Kennedy, when asked why life-saving equipment was left lying idle due to the shortage of radiation therapists, that:
— "The basic answer is we are not training enough of them because we have not reacted to the increased requirement over the past several years. That is true in many areas of infrastructure in the health system. It is the predominant reason"; and
— "Owing to the difficulties we have with unscheduled care, by which I mean sick people coming to the ED, time-critical surgeries are continually delayed because we cannot get patients into the hospital for them … because the hospital was overwhelmed by urgent care"; and
— responses given to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health on 10th April, 2024, by the National Director of the National Cancer Control Programme, Professor Risteárd Ó Laoide, confirming that the Health Service Executive sought €20 million in funding for the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 in 2024 but "did not get anything for 2024";
considers that the failure to properly fund the strategy, to properly plan and grow the workforce, and to resolve hospital overcrowding are the consequences of conscious political decisions made by this and previous Governments;
condemns the Taoiseach, Simon Harris TD, for his failure as the Minister for Health and as a member of this Government to properly fund the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026, and as the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to put in place a workforce plan to address staffing deficits in the health service; and
calls on the Government to:
— immediately revise the health budget for 2024 to provide the funding needed to deliver the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026;
— commit to full multi-annual funding of the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026;
— end the recruitment embargo across the Health Service Executive;
— fund the 1,500 acute hospital beds which are needed to reduce overcrowding; and
— implement a medium- and long-term workforce plan for the health service to address staffing deficits, including in cancer services.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"recognises and notes:
— the work of our healthcare workers in improving the health outcomes for patients with cancer;
— the improvement in survival rates in Ireland during the current National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026, with more than 215,000 people living in Ireland following a cancer diagnosis compared to 150,000 in 2017 when the Strategy was brought to Government;
— the strong performance of Ireland compared to other European countries in reducing the rate of deaths from cancer;
— that studies for the period 2011-2019 found that Ireland reduced cancer mortality by 14 per cent for men and 13 per cent for women, compared to the European Union (EU) average of 10 per cent for men and 5 per cent for women;
— the substantial investment that has been made into the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 since the formation of this Government in 2020 of €40 million, with a cumulative total of over €120 million in additional funding spent on the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 since 2020;
— the recruitment of an additional 670 new staff to national cancer services since 2017, leading to improved access to treatment for cancer patients;
— the provision of improved treatment for cancer patients since 2020, including new treatments now available in Ireland for the first time, tailored anti-cancer therapies, and new radiotherapy treatments;
— the development of new infrastructure for cancer since 2017, including new radiation oncology facilities at Cork and Galway with a total capital spend of over €120 million, and the extensive cancer infrastructure projects which are currently ongoing within the Health Service Executive;
— the investment into screening services since 2020 of €30 million in new development funding, including €20 million to support the opening of the National Cervical Screening Laboratory in December 2022;
— that Ireland's screening programmes rank highly for uptake rates in comparison to the EU member states which have these screening programmes in place: BreastCheck seventh out of 23 member states, CervicalCheck third out of 19 member states, and BowelScreen sixth out of 16 member states;
— the ambitious target set by this Government to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, which Ireland is on track to achieve;
— the sustained funding of cancer research of €37.6 million between 2020 and 2023, which represents 14 per cent of the Health Research Board's overall funding portfolio;
— the funding allocated in the last three years to new medicines, including 61 cancer drugs, of €98 million, and the total spend on cancer drugs in the last three years of over €600 million;
— the support given to smoking cessation initiatives of over €60 million from 2020-2024, and the extensive body of legislation enacted since the formation of this Government to address tobacco consumption as the biggest single cause of cancer in Ireland;
— the initiatives progressed under this Government to address alcohol as the fourth highest modifiable risk factor for cancer in Ireland, including the further commencement of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 to introduce minimum unit pricing, health labelling of alcohol products, the regulation of advertising and sponsorship, and the reduced visibility of alcohol in mixed trading outlets;
— the Government is committed to increasing capacity in our public hospitals; 1,182 new acute hospital inpatient beds have opened since 2020, which includes 56 beds opened so far in 2024; and
— there was a significant increase in the number of additional student places available on health-related courses in 2023; in total over 660 additional student places have been provided in medicine, nursing and midwifery, pharmacy, and other key healthcare courses in the academic year 2023/24; and this includes over 220 student places across Nursing and Midwifery and Allied Health Professional courses in Northern Ireland.".
-(Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Mary Butler)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 71; Níl, 59; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
- Troy, Robert.
- Varadkar, Leo.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Brady, John.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Healy-Rae, Danny.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Naughten, Denis.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ryan, Patricia.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Amendment declared carried.
Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 71; Níl, 59; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
- Troy, Robert.
- Varadkar, Leo.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Brady, John.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Healy-Rae, Danny.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Naughten, Denis.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ryan, Patricia.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Question declared carried.