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The concern was raised by Kerry Fianna Fáil TD Michael Cahill with HSE representatives at the Oireachtas Health Committee on Wednesday. He enquired about the supposed unexplained surge in an area of Kerry and the deputy asked about possible causes, including the “water we drink, the air we breathe or the food we eat.” He was speaking at the committee where the Irish Cancer Society had earlier warned of delays faced by patients with cancer needing a diagnosis or surgery. Deputy Cahill said; “Eight different people were diagnosed with cancer. Three were terminal and they have sadly passed since. The question lay people are asking all the time is it the water we drink, is it the air we breathe, is it the food we eat?” In response, Dr Triona McCarthy of the HSE’s cancer control programme said “the increasing number of cases in a locality would often be described as a what looks like a perceived cluster.” She said :”The first thing to say is that cancer is a very common condition. One in two of us in our lifetimes will be diagnosed with cancer. Today's News in 90 Seconds, Thursday, October 23 “It is sometimes literally the ageing within a particular community. People have settled in an area at a particular time. We have talked about the ageing of our population. There are modifiable and non-modifiable risks for cancer and one of the most obvious non-modifiable ones is your age. “We see in our population the increase in people over 65 and that is a driver. That said there are other preventable causes of cancer that are important to focus on and what we can do about cancer risk and 30pc to 50pc of cancers are preventable.“ Deputy Cahill responded to say that a lot of the people who were diagnosed were very young. Separately, the committee heard that the hospital trolley crisis is among the blockages leaving patients with pancreatic cancer, prostate, breast cancer or lung cancer enduring delays for surgery. The Irish Cancer Society highlighted how one patient’s surgery who was cancelled due to hospital overcrowding is still waiting for a new date nearly three months later. “One patient was waiting 18 weeks after surgery to commence radiotherapy. They’d been given no date for planning appointment and were deeply concerned,” Steve Dempsey, Director of Advocacy and Communications told the Oireachtas health committee. Senior officials from the HSE acknowledged services are under strain and said “we need to improve access to theatre facilities to improve timely access to cancer surgery.” HSE deputy chief executive Damian McCallion said the HSE has a “programme focused on improving the utilisation of our theatres, which will increase access for all patients, including cancer patients.” The meeting also heard how getting a diagnosis can also be outside the recommended timeline, with difficulty getting access to PET scanners which are important in detection, staging and monitoring progress as well as determining if treatment is effective. Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane told the committee the Government must deliver PET scanners in Waterford, Galway and Limerick . Mr Dempsey highlighted other blockages including over 4,100 people were waiting more than the recommended 28 days for urgent colonoscopy between January and July 2025. “Too many women are waiting too long for urgent breast clinic access: 5,800 women were not seen within the recommended 10 working days at urgent symptomatic breast disease clinics between January and July 2025.” Prof Risteard O’Laoide, head of the National Cancer Control Programme in the HSE, said a reorganisation of breast cancer clinics is to get underway to ensure priority of urgent cases. The Irish Cancer Society has blamed a lack of consistent, ringfenced funding and said it is still in the dark about the allocation to cancer services in this month’s Budget for 2026. Mr McCallion said the HSE is still waiting for a letter of determination from the Department of Health setting out the funding. Questioned by Labour TD Marie Sherlock, he confirmed that the system of how the cancer funding will be administered this year is different and it will be spread among the six regional health organisations with the aim of reducing inequalities. "He said I am hearing you that there will be a big focus on productivity. Would you accept that new money also needs to go into cancer services?” she asked. He said there would be a increase in funding this year but he could not say what it will amount to. It comes against growing demand for cancer care from a rising and ageing population as well as more complex treatments. Galway oncologist Dr Michael McCarthy, who has campaigned for greater access to new cancer drugs for public patients, said he acknowledged the work of the HSE in making these medicines available and around 125 expensive drugs were funded in recent years. However, he said HSE is being outpaced by the number of new drugs being approved by the European Medicines Agency. He told Deputy Sherlock that in his own area of speciality, which includes head and neck cancers and gynaecological cancers, around 20 to 30pc of public patients would benefit from the new drugs.
