David Cullinane

Here we go again.

Therapy sessions are being cancelled. The Tánaiste has some brass neck.

The Government is not even meeting its own cancer targets.

Spare me.

Talk about fair.

They are made up with the Government.

Tone deaf.

Hold the Government to account. Imagine that.

I agree with the Minister of State there absolutely.

Support the no confidence motion and show some real leadership.

Lots of them. They were looking for you.

It will take 50 years.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Last October, when we debated the multibillion euro budget brought forward by the Government, we warned that people had been put to the pin of their collars. The Government brought in a budget - and the Minister of State supported it - which gave billions of euro to corporate landlords, banks and the wealthiest in the country, but very little to most working families. They were promised tax cuts a…

That is disingenuous.

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 is due to end this year, and a new strategy is needed to drive improvements in access to, and the quality of, care from 2027; — in 2025, 15 per cent of chemotherapy, and 23 per cent of radiotherapy, patients did not get access to treatment in the target timeframe; — in 2025, 45 per cent of breast cancer surgeries …

First of all, I will correct something I said in my opening remarks when I was talking about chemotherapy patients in Cavan. In fact, 100% of those were seen on time; it was in Waterford that 66% of patients were seen on time, which means 33% were not. For radiotherapy, 98% of patients in Waterford were treated on time, compared to just 67% in St. Luke's Radiation Oncology Network, which covers Du…

It is not a case of the Government coming a day late and a dollar short. Rather, it is a year late and several hundred dollars short for the vast majority of families. The clock did not start ticking in the last number of weeks, although it has got worse for families and fuel prices have gone up. In the budget last year, the Government had an opportunity to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, but…

Their only concern is what the Government will do right now for them.

That is what they want to know. What will it do? The Tánaiste has come to the Chamber today with nothing. He has no proposals. He talks about how the Government might do something but we do not know what that will be.

Sinn Féin has come with proposals, not just this week but before the last budget, when the Government had the opportunity to support families and workers but decided to look after vested interests instead. Fine Gael is the party that looks after a cosseted, privileged class. It has showed that time and time again.

How long do I have?

I thank Minister, Deputy Calleary, for taking this Topical Issue debate today. As he knows, my party leader and I have written to him a number of times over recent months. I have received his correspondence and responses, which I know have been drafted by officials in his Department who have been responding to this issue for some time. The issue here is that many former Waterford Crystal workers w…

It is not a case of whether the workers were the victims of an injustice; in my view, they were. As I said earlier, at the time those workers should have been given three options: the preserved benefits option, a transfer value or a refund. They were only given one option, which was the refund. The quarrel seems to relate to the fact that the Minister and the Department are of the view that this w…