Many people will have harrowing stories to tell today that are personal and connected to them. The unfortunate fact is that cancer has a huge footprint. We have often spoken about people coming to us to say that the system is brilliant once you get into it but we are talking about slippage here. That is the reason Deputy Cullinane is highlighting the absolute necessity of a new cancer strategy. Some 15% of chemotherapy patients and 23% of radiotherapy patients do not start treatment on time. It is as simple as that. There are delays in surgical care, with 61% of prostate cancer surgeries, 45% of breast cancer surgeries and 39% of lung cancer surgeries not happening within the recommended timeframes. That speaks for itself. It is just not good enough. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda ranks 16th out of the 25 hospitals providing chemotherapy with 17% of people not getting chemotherapy within the target timeframe of 15 working days. As Deputy Byrne said, 67 people in Drogheda faced serious delays for chemotherapy in 2025. That is not good enough whatsoever. We know that there are issues with resources, outdated rosters and outdated equipment. They just need to be dealt with. In the small amount of time I have left, I want to bring up an issue that a constituent has brought to me. It relates to stomas. I appeal once again for people with stomas to be included in the long-term illness scheme. A person wears an ostomy bag for a number of reasons, one of which is obviously cancer. It is an absolute necessity for people, but at the minute they are paying a minimum monthly expense of €80 per month, whereas if they were up the road in Newry this would not be the case. It needs to be looked at and delivered upon.

Sentiment score: -0.18