I recognise the work of the volunteers who fundraise and provide services, such as the Meath Cancer Support Group. I thank those who fundraise for charities, such as LARCC and the Irish Cancer Society, which get very little of their funding from the Government. In my constituency, a service has been set up and provided by the Moylagh JFK 50 Mile Challenge committee, which provides transport to and from treatment free of charge. We cannot give enough thanks and credit to the volunteers who run the service, and those who give up their time to drive the Moylagh car. These volunteers fill the gaps in services and very often support those who would struggle to find help when they need it. A lot of money is raised through charity events, but volunteers and committees now face the challenge of getting insurance for these events. I welcome the legislation on the right to be forgotten, which in 2022 had cross-party support and was introduced by a cross-party group. I am, however, disappointed that it has taken this long when we see such legislation passed in other EU countries. The Irish Cancer Society has done brilliant work in lobbying for this. Access to surgeries must be prioritised. If one surgeon is unable to complete a surgery, another surgeon should be able to step in. I recently heard of a lady who, sadly, passed away. She was due to get a tumour removed but, unfortunately, her surgery was cancelled due to personal reasons with the surgeon. It was suspected that her tumour had burst. How often is this happening, and how are cases like this being recorded? Money is being spent on encouraging people to get checked, but often, when they attend their GP, they are told that the waiting times for screening are lengthy. Then there are people who are working but cannot afford to go to their GP to get checked. Last year, the Irish Cancer Society warned that Ireland's two-tier health system was failing public cancer patients and they were not getting the same potentially life-saving cancer treatments as those treated in private hospitals. Private patients have swift access to EMA-approved cancer drugs while public patients must wait on average two years to find out whether they will gain access to the same treatment. Cancer patients often leave work during their treatment, bills continue to come through their doors and they have to fork out for travel, accommodation and prescriptions, but they are refused access to a medical card.

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