Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice has called on the Minister for Health to introduce a rolling replacement programme for radiation therapy machines.<\/p>\n
Deputy Rice, who is the party\u2019s health spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAt today\u2019s Health Committee, we heard from the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Society of Radiation Oncology about the indisputable need for a replacement programme. But rather than proactively planning, the State currently has an ad hoc system of replacing radiation therapy machines. This results in machines far exceeding their sell by date before being replaced.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is despite the fact that the need to replace these machines, which have a 10-year lifespan, is entirely predictable. After that, machines regularly break down, treatments are delayed, maintenance costs increase and ultimately the standard of care decreases.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently, there are 23 public radiation therapy machines in Ireland. In Dublin, there are 14 machines \u2013 12 of which are well beyond their 10-year lifespan, with four over 18 years old. While a replacement programme is finally underway in Dublin, why did these machines have to reach breaking point before any action was taken?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard at committee that St Luke\u2019s Radiation Oncology Network experiences around 1,700 hours of unplanned downtime due to problems with their old machines. At any one time in St Luke\u2019s Rathgar, a machine is not in use to mitigate against frequent breakdowns, resulting in a quarter of capacity being lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also learned today that it will be 2031 by the time Dublin completes its equipment replacement programme, with concerns also raised about the slow procurement process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe five machines in Cork are already five to six years old, while the four machines in Galway are four years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cA national programme should be put in place to support a planned 10-year replacement cycle. This would be much more cost effective and, more importantly, would deliver a far greater standard of care to cancer patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cRadiation therapy is the cornerstone of modern cancer treatment. However, according to the Irish Cancer Society, over 1,440 people face delays in starting radiation therapy. And while 90 per cent of patients should start radiation therapy within 15 working days, this target has been consistently missed in each of the last 10 full years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese unacceptable delays are a consequence of old machinery breaking down and a lack of radiation therapy staff. However, instead of addressing these public capacity deficits, the Minister for Health has turned to outsourcing to private providers.<\/p>\n
\u201cFigures released to me show that up to last November, \u20ac28.2 million had been spent on outsourcing radiation therapy patients to private providers in 2025. This spend on outsourcing has more than doubled since 2020, when the figure stood at \u20ac11.9 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cA rolling replacement programme for ageing radiation therapy machines would be a far better use of public money. This is something the minister must now commit to.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 29, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice has called on the Minister for Health to introduce a rolling replacement programme for radiation therapy machines. Deputy Rice, who is the party\u2019s health spokesperson, said: \u201cAt today\u2019s Health Committee, we heard from the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Society of Radiation Oncology about the indisputable need for a […]<\/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":[11,642,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-padraig-rice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n