I am sure the Taoiseach, as a former health Minister, is concerned about an article in The Irish Times on Monday on accessibility to cancer drugs. I will just quote some of what the oncologists said. They said public patients are facing huge delays in accessing cancer drugs and that a two-tier health system exists in the context of cancer drugs. They stated that less effective cancer drugs are being prescribed to public patients as a result of the delay in reimbursement of drugs. I am sure the Taoiseach agrees this situation is very unfair in the context of cancer treatment. Can we fix it? There should be equality when it comes to cancer care and access to cancer drugs.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. When it was raised with me recently, I committed to reaching out to some of the doctors and oncologists concerned who have voiced views on this as I would like to hear from them directly. We have allocated significant resources for additional new medicines in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and this has seen the introduction of 61 new cancer medicines. A further €30 million is available this year. The total spend on cancer drugs in the past three years is now over €600 million. This year the HSE will launch an application tracker to increase transparency in the medicines assessment process. I will get the Deputy a direct update on the matter.