Táim an-bhuíoch as an deis chun caint ar an ábhar seo. Gabhaim buíochas le Páirtí Shinn Féin as an deis seo. I will start by saying "Go raibh míle maith agat" leis na daoine atá ag déanamh obair na gcapall sna hospidéil agus i ngach uile áit inár health service. It is commendable. Three weeks ago, sadly, I lost my best friend, Eleanor Lanigan, to cancer. The men and women in St. Vincent's Hospital were there to the end working to make her as comfortable as possible. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam. In recent weeks, I have been contacted by a number of constituents in Dublin who are deeply worried about diagnosis, delays and uncertainty. I commend Deputy O'Gorman and everyone who has served on the Oireachtas committee to do with cancer. I have been working on it since I came into this House. I am grateful to the Irish Cancer Society for all the great work it is doing and all the details it gave us at the recent briefing, particularly in respect of my constituency. When I was writing this speech, I rang a constituent, Jennifer Murphy, whose case I have been working on, and she gave me permission to mention her. Jennifer outlined how she was initially told that she would be waiting over 12 months for a non-urgent colonoscopy. It was only after she went back to her GP and following interventions by me, my office and other public representatives that her case was reclassified as urgent and she was given an appointment. That should not be how the system works. People should not have to fight to have their cases reclassified as urgent. They should not be left in limbo, particularly when we know early diagnosis is critical. I suppose that no one in this House can say that they have not been touched by cancer. If anyone has gone through it, cancer is a really horrific way to go. We need to provide every type of support for people who have cancer. I welcome much of what the Deputies from every party and none have said during this debate. Behind the numbers there are people, families and friends. This should not just be about highlighting problems. We all know what we need to do. I read the Government amendment, but I suppose it is more about action. A lot of the time when we come into this House, we are just here to talk. We need to get out there and do it.

Sentiment score: -0.03

We need to expand capacity, particularly in north Dublin, and provide clear and consistent referral pathways.

Sentiment score: 0.60