I raise the issue of community cancer support centres. A diagnosis of cancer can bring with it a myriad of changes. Life can suddenly become a roller-coaster of medical appointments and hospital stays, being unable to work, financial worries, a loss of independence, unintended isolation and a tsunami of fear and uncertainty. These all-consuming changes come at a time when a person is already feeling vulnerable, worried and sometimes even angry. Their world and that of their families and loved ones become plagued with questions and concerns. In the midst of these changes, patients and those close to them can become overwhelmed. Their minds are flooded with worries and fears that they often feel unable to discuss with one another. Questions that need answers go unspoken and worries stay silent for fear of magnifying this worry in others. Individually and collectively, they are crying out for support. They simply want someone who will listen and hear their fears, someone who can guide them along the unfamiliar path on which they find themselves and walk with them when times are tough or overwhelming. Medical professionals cannot adequately offer this support. Demands on their time do not allow them to do so.

For more than 30 years, community cancer support centres have been providing this invaluable and vital service in many locations across the country. These centres are partnered with and recognised by the Irish Cancer Society for the instrumental role they play in the lives of patients, their carers and their families. The national cancer strategy identifies community cancer support centres as a key service for cancer patients. They provide psychological, emotional, educational and practical support in a warm and welcoming environment to people with cancer and those who care for them. Their services are confidential, professional and caring and are provided free of charge. They offer a supportive role during and after a journey with cancer. They spend quality and precious time with all those in a family who have been impacted by their loved one's cancer diagnosis. It would be impossible to estimate the magnitude of the role they play, yet despite this, community cancer support centres have operated as registered charities since their inception and rely solely on fundraising. They received no designated funding until this year, when they were awarded €3 million in a one-off fund from the Department of Health to support the 16 centres they operate across the country, including Suir Haven, Thurles, North Tipperary Hospice, Roscrea Outreach Centre and the Circle of Friends cancer support centre in Tipperary town. This funding has allowed them to sustain and increase the incalculable role they play. However, the demand and the proven need for community cancer support centres will not end in 2024. One-off funding cannot sustain the demand for such services.

The community cancer support services have more than proven their worth. Will the Government support their call for annual funding to enable this service to continue its crucial work?

I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this really important matter. As he started speaking, I was reminded of a delegation he brought to see me many years ago, when I was Minister for Health, from the Circle of Friends group in Tipperary town. He will remember that at that time, the late, great Sarah Gleeson came to see me with Jennifer Jones Hickey and others, and I think of Sarah and her family today. She made an incredible contribution and legacy to cancer services and to the Circle of Friends in Tipperary town, and I thank her and others. I remember visiting the Circle of Friends and Sarah being too ill to attend but in her memory, we were all able to work to provide very significant funding, with community and the Government, to deliver that state-of-the-art centre. I was just reminded of those meetings as we are talking here today.

The Deputy is right about the role of community cancer support centres. There is not a Deputy in this House, regardless of party affiliation, who does not know the incredible benefit of them, and I am really pleased the current national cancer strategy, which runs from 2017 to 2026, recognises that important role. There is stuff the State must do, and there is stuff the State does well and stuff it must do better, but alongside that there is that partnership approach with the voluntary centres. More people in Ireland are now living after a cancer diagnosis and, therefore, the supports of our community cancer centres are growing in importance. As the Deputy rightly said, they are voluntary organisations, and many of them are legally charity organisations as well. They deliver a range of services directly to cancer patients, as well as to their families and carers, and this emphasises the importance of, and facilitates, improved quality of life during and after cancer treatment. The services are free of charge and are delivered in a community, non-hospital setting, and the idea a patient is not just a patient but also a person who is able to access services that look at all of their well-being in the community is really important.

The national cancer control programme established in 2022 an alliance of community cancer support centres and is now working closely with these centres on the psycho-oncology model of care and its implementation. I am pleased to say an additional €3 million in funding was allocated to the community cancer support centres in the most recent budget, which will help these voluntary and charity organisations to deliver services directly to cancer patients and their families.

All centres that were full members of the alliance were invited to submit applications for that funding this year. The national cancer control programme advises that letters with funding amounts for 2024 have now been issued to all of the centres and grant agreements are currently being signed off. I believe those grants are due to start to be paid this week and that grant payments for all of those who have received funding through the alliance centres will be completed in early June.

As we move towards budget 2025, I want to see how we can put that funding on a sustainable footing.

The most important element of this is that the €3 million was very welcome and it sustains those organisations throughout this year. Their difficulty is that they cannot plan ahead and they need an annual budget. I ask the Government to ensure that an additional €3 million or whatever the figure is included in the budget at the end of this year for next year, that is, the year 2025.

An estimated 42,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in Ireland every year and the good news is that more people in Ireland are surviving cancer than ever before. Investment and support under the two national cancer strategies have helped significantly in improving outcomes.

We provided €6 million in our budget.

You did.

It was permanent, as well.

However, this has declined somewhat due to what has been a reduced investment and funding priority in the 2017 to 2026 strategy the Taoiseach just referred to, so I ask the Taoiseach to address that and ensure adequate and proper funding is put in place to keep the organisations doing the tremendous work they do.

I thank the Deputy and as he will appreciate, the €3 million was the first time we provided this model of funding to the alliance. I have met many of these organisations and I know many of them in my own county. I have met a number of these organisations around the country and the funding was welcomed as an important step. I accept it is a first step. I accept the organisations want to have an ability to be able to plan beyond year to year or beyond having to apply on a recurring basis. Let us now see how we can make that happen in terms of the delivery of the health budget for 2025. The level of investment is very small compared to the level of community investment and I do not think it is too much of an ask from the communities that raise so much that the Government would provide a greater level of certainty of funding for the years ahead. I am happy to work with Deputy Lowry and any like-minded Deputy on this in advance of budget 2025.