Ms Deborah Kelleher:

The challenges are equal between the west, south and east of the country. The vacancy rates are standardised throughout the country. The machine closures are standard as well, with one closure in each corner of the country. We have recently just completed a national review of radiation therapy services, which has 16 recommendations. Many of those recommendations are very easy and cost-effective to implement. It is just about getting those accepted by the Department of Health and implemented in a timely manner. They would make big differences in terms of staffing, attrition rates and reopening services.

We also need to get those clinical tutor posts in. We need to start at the basics. Getting students into college places is essential to get the services up and running. That is a quick fix. We have only 12 radiation therapists being trained in UCC annually in a postgraduate programme. That is a two-year programme. There are only 30 places in Trinity College Dublin. It is easy to boost those numbers quickly and cost-effectively. We have amazing infrastructure in the country for radiation oncology services and phenomenal services in all parts of the country. Leaving them sitting there idle is the biggest curse to the country when we have such high rates of cancer. One in two of us will be affected by cancer in our lifetime. They are stark figures. First and foremost, opening up places to students and looking after our radiation therapist students would be a good start. Unfortunately, we were not successful within the health and social care professions group. We did not get any additional places this year. We seem to have been omitted from that pot this year and I do not really understand why when we have clearly stated that lifesaving cancer services are closed. Implementing the recommendations of the review would be a good start.