Daffodil Day is an opportune time put a spotlight on Ireland\u2019s cancer care services, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson P\u00e1draig Rice.<\/p>\n
Deputy Rice made his comments as the Irish Cancer Society\u2019s biggest annual fundraiser got under way across the country today.<\/p>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
\u201cHuge progress has been made in cancer treatment in recent decades, but there are still significant gaps in services and supports.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince my election to the D\u00e1il, I have worked closely with the Irish Cancer Society and frontline workers to highlight these gaps.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the current Cancer Strategy was launched in 2017, the then Minister for Health Simon Harris promised substantial current and capital funding over the 10 years of the strategy. However, funding for the strategy has been sporadic and it has received no funding in multiple budgets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis starving of funding has only worsened the postcode lottery for vital cancer care. This strategy needs multi-annual funding instead of stop-start support.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the biggest issues in cancer care is the hollowing out of public radiotherapy services. Since 2020, over \u20ac113 million has been spent outsourcing radiotherapy for public patients to private providers. This creeping privatisation of services is being fuelled by staff shortages and outdated machinery.<\/p>\n
\u201cRadiation therapy machines have a 10-year lifespan, yet 50 per cent of public machines are over 15-years old \u2013 four of which are over 18-years old. Older machines are slower, treat less patients and frequently break down. Even though the need to replace them is entirely predictable, there is no rolling National Radiotherapy Equipment Replacement Programme in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis must change \u2013 ad hoc replacement of machinery is failing patients and negatively impacting staff morale and staff retention.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of that, the pay and numbers strategy continues to be a major issue, with machines lying idle and services running at reduced capacity due to staff shortages.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current Cancer Strategy is also clear about the need to address the critical shortage of radiographers.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently, I met with the Radiography Practice Tutor Committee about the escalating recruitment and retention crisis in their field. Radiographer tutors play a vital role in the clinical education and training of student radiographers within our hospitals, but this is not recognised in their pay and conditions. If we want to recruit and retain more practice tutors, they must be remunerated and graded appropriately.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is welcome that the government is increasing the number of student radiography places, in line with the Cancer Strategy, but this must be matched by increased resources for clinical placements.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlready this week, we\u2019ve heard reports of radiography students, who should be working ‘clinical hours’, studying in the library instead because of a lack of practice tutors to support their placements. This cannot go on any longer \u2013 there must be joined-up thinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis escalating crisis requires an urgent intervention from the Minister for Health to increase the number of clinical tutors, retain existing staff and provide patients with timely diagnostics.\u201d<\/p>\n
March 20, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Daffodil Day is an opportune time put a spotlight on Ireland\u2019s cancer care services, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson P\u00e1draig Rice. Deputy Rice made his comments as the Irish Cancer Society\u2019s biggest annual fundraiser got under way across the country today. He said: \u201cHuge progress has been made in cancer treatment in recent decades, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[822,11,642,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancer-services","category-health","category-padraig-rice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n