Gabhaim buíochas don Cheann Comhairle as ucht an seans a thabhairt dom an cheist thábhachtach seo a phlé sa Dáil.
A report in The Irish Times of Saturday last indicated that the expert group on the future of radiotherapy services will recommend that the service be provided only in Dublin, Cork and Galway. This leak, like all others, had an objective. One could speculate that it came from Government sources to test the water in regard to public reaction in the south-eastern, western and mid-western regions. The report quotes a spokeswoman for the Minister as saying that the Minister had yet to receive the report. It should be noted that she did not say that he did not know what was contained in the report. She further stated that the Minister expected the report within weeks. The article stated that it is expected that the Minister will act on the recommendations of his expert group.
There can be no doubt that the submission of the expert group report to the Minister has been deliberately stalled. Equally, it is valid to speculate that the completion of the expert group report could be influenced by the intensity of the public reaction to the leak. I call on the Minister for Health and Children to immediately instruct that the completed report of the expert group be submitted to him and that he publish it. Whatever the recommendations, it is imperative that the stalling exercise comes to an end and that the people of Waterford and the south-east region know where they stand. Anger and frustration are caused where there is prolonged stalling of publication and people know they are being treated like idiots.
When I last raised this issue on the Adjournment, I pointed out that due to a lack of radiotherapy facilities at Waterford Regional Hospital some breast cancer patients were opting for mastectomies because they could not get access to such treatment in Waterford. Cancer specialists from both the south-east and mid-west regions have stated that this is the case. It is absolutely unacceptable that in any civilised society women should opt for mastectomies rather than spending long periods away from home. This is only one group among the 50% of cancer patients who require radiotherapy.
Radiotherapy treatment is usually administered for short daily periods over a number of weeks. Treatment can be accessed by travel to and from a centre if it is situated near at hand. If there is a considerable distance involved, patients either have long daily journeys or have to stay near the centre. The latter is cruel and inhumane at a time when patients are at their most vulnerable and need their families and friend around them.
Whatever the recommendations of the expert group report, there is a fundamental need for a regional cancer treatment centre in the south-east. Waterford Regional Hospital provides chemotherapy as well as surgery in the treatment of cancer. Without radiotherapy the treatment options are reduced. Some 75% of cancer patients should receive radiotherapy, but in the south-east only 48% receive it. The expert group report must be published. If it recommends a radiotherapy unit for Waterford Regional Hospital, then our work to press the Government for early delivery will begin. If it does not, then the campaign must employ other ways of reaching an early successful conclusion. Either way, the stalling of the publication of the report of the expert group on the future of radiotherapy services is acting as a road block to progress.