Cancer Services

As the Minister of State is aware, there is no CAR T-cell treatment facility in Cork University Hospital, CUH. A facility was in place in 2008 but was closed down as a result of a number of inspections. In the nearly 20 years since 2008, people from the Cork and Kerry region have had to go to Galway or Dublin for this treatment. It is important to explain CAR T-cell therapy. Blood is drawn for a stem cell transplant and blood stem cells are harvested for CAR T-cell therapy. White blood cells, T-cells, are specifically collected. They are then treated and infused back into the patient they were taken from. Between January and September 2026, over 80 patients were referred from CUH to Galway or Dublin. If we take in Clare, Limerick, Cork, Kerry, Waterford and north Tipperary, there are 1.4 million people living in the region, which has no CAR T-cell treatment facility. With a growing population, this issue will come up more and more. Over 400 people a year are diagnosed with melanoma and over 3,000 people with it are getting ongoing treatment. Treatment is available in Galway and in St. James's and St. Vincent's hospitals in Dublin. In the period 2006 to 2008, the Irish Medicines Board, IMB, carried out inspections in CUH and in 2008, the unit was closed. A business case was put together a number f years later, in 2019, and presented to the South/South West Hospital Group in 2022. The national cancer control programme, NCCP, is extremely supportive. In a letter dated 31 October 2025, Patricia Heckmann, assistant national director of the NCCP, said that given the capacity issue nationally and the current requirement for patients from the south-west region to travel to Galway or Dublin to access such services, the NCCP continues to recommend the re-establishment of a HSCT service at CUH and the repatriation of south-west region patients from the other sites. The NCCP, she added, has provided financial support and staffing regarding this re-establishment; however, an upgrade in CUH laboratory infrastructure in the form of new tissue establishment is central to the reinstatement of the HSCT service on the site. A new tissue establishment will facilitate on-site stem cell procurement and transplantation for CUH patients without unnecessary travel or delays and associated potential risk of disease, she continued. The national cancer control programme wants this facility reinstated and for the services to be provided in Cork. CUH is catering for a whole range of areas but it is also dealing with cancer patients on a large scale. This particular treatment is not available in CUH. It is not a day procedure but a treatment over a period of time, so there is a huge cost involved for families travelling and staying in either Galway or Dublin. I ask that the Department consider providing the funding to HSE South West and CUH so that this service can be brought back into use and patients no longer need to travel, and also a growing number of people are being identified with this problem.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of the proposal to open a stem cell transplant unit at Cork University Hospital, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. The Government is committed to improving cancer care, ensuring better prevention, maintaining improvements in cancer survival rates and facilitating timely access to treatments. The availability of appropriate, fit-for-purpose facilities and equipment is critical to the safe and timely delivery of cancer care. In this context, the Government has allocated significant funding of €105 million since 2017, including €23 million in 2025, to the national cancer strategy to support cancer services and improve outcomes for patients. The Deputy will appreciate that haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and other related cellular therapies are highly specialised treatments used in the management of a range of malignant and non-malignant diseases. Cellular therapies currently available in Ireland include autologous stem cell transplantation, allogeneic stem cell transplantation and chimeric antigen receptor, CAR T-cell therapy. These therapies require specialist multidisciplinary teams, dedicated laboratory facilities, tissue establishment infrastructure, specialised inpatient facilities and robust regulatory and accreditation arrangements. Adult autologous stem cell transplantation services are currently provided in St. James's Hospital, University Hospital Galway and St. Vincent's University Hospital. Adult allogeneic stem cell transplantation is currently provided through St. James’s Hospital, which has also provided CAR T-cell therapy to adult patients since December 2021. Stem cell transplantation activity continues to increase nationally, driven primarily by growth in cellular therapies and the expansion of CAR T treatment indications. As the Deputy may be aware, in 2026 Beaumont Hospital was designated an additional autologous stem cell transplantation and CAR T centre, working towards commencement of services in 2027. This illustrates the Government's ongoing efforts to increase capacity to meet nationally increasing demand for these important services. It is against this background that HSE South West is considering proposals for a stem cell tissue establishment and advanced cellular therapies unit at Cork University Hospital that may increase national capacity even further, while supporting the delivery of stem cell transplantation and other advanced cellular therapies closer to home for patients across the south west. The national development plan sets out the investment to enable the furtherance of the Government's commitments to include the provision of infrastructure necessary in ensuring better healthcare for all. The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has published the Department of Health's sectoral plan for 2026 to 2030 under the national development plan, NDP. The sectoral plan sets out infrastructure investment priorities for the next five years, building on a strong track record of delivery to support the delivery of equitable, accessible and high-quality healthcare across Ireland. While the project is not included in the current approved HSE capital plan, it remains under consideration through the established capital planning and approval processes. Accordingly, the future progression of the project is subject to the normal appraisal, approval, budgetary and capital funding processes necessary with projects of this nature.

The site has been clearly established as being located in CUH, where a detailed plan has been completed as regards where the infrastructure can be put in place. The problem is the funding. We are going to have a huge problem that is already in CUH where certain work has had to be outsourced because the hospital does not have the availability to provide the treatment patients require. As I said, over 80 patients were sent to either Dublin or Galway from January to September, and that figure is going to continue to grow. It is important to note I am not just talking about Cork here; I am talking about the entire southern region, including the Minister of State's county of Limerick and counties Clare, Kerry, Cork and Waterford. It is important we develop the service here because it is clear from the national cancer control programme that there is a concern there are not adequate facilities available to deal with the growing number of patients. Therefore, I do not think this can be put down the road. It is on the programme for the south and south west region but it is ninth on the list for construction work. This project should be brought forward and the additional funding provided so that the work can start. Even if the work started today, it would, as the Minister of State knows, take at least 12 months to complete and have ready for use. Even if we start today, we have a problem that is two years down the road. I do not want to have a situation where I am back here in two years' time raising the same issue and saying the same thing, and there being another two years added on. I ask that this matter be given priority by the Department. The pressure is on the two hospitals in Dublin and Galway. They have the numbers from their own region and are now also taking numbers from the south and south west.

Once again, I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I thank Deputy Burke for his contribution today and his ongoing advocacy on this matter. He has been strongly dedicated to the improvement of cancer services and has been a particularly strong advocate for the patients of the south west, especially in Cork. The Government recognises the importance of ensuring patients nationally can access high-quality specialised cancer care as close to home as possible. I acknowledge that travelling to Dublin or Galway can be difficult for patients and their families. The proposals being considered by HSE South West for stem cell tissue establishment in the advance cellular therapies unit in Cork University Hospital is representative of the growing national demand for these treatments, and the Government's commitment in the national cancer strategy to align services both at both regional and national levels, where appropriate. While projects not including the HSE capital plan 2026 remain a consideration, all major investment must be progressed through the established planning and approval process. The Department of Health will continue to engage with the HSE at this proposal develops. I thank Deputy Burke again for his advocacy on this issue and for cancer services more broadly. I will bring the matter he has raised to the attention of the Minister and the Department.