Pre-budget Submission 2027
One in two people in Ireland will develop cancer in our lifetimes.
As we face an ageing population and record growth, it is more important than ever to invest significantly in the care cancer system. It is crucial that Ireland invest in infrastructure, workforce development and reducing the real cost of cancer for households.
Ireland has made real progress improving cancer outcomes over the last three decades. Strategic investment in specialist services, cancer centres, diagnostics and treatment has transformed survival rates from two in five people surviving cancer in the 1990s to almost two in three today.
However, we cannot assume the gains of the past will continue into the future. Ireland now has the second highest rate of new cancer diagnoses in the European Union. Without investment, the pressure on the health system will become unsustainable and the human consequences will be profound.
Budget 2027 can mark a turning point.
The Irish Cancer Society is calling for a realistic approach to capital planning and funding cancer care infrastructure; a reduction in the costs of cancer for cancer patients; and the provision of the foundations that will set the new National Cancer Strategy up to succeed.
Key Budgetary Asks
The Irish Cancer Society’s Pre-Budget Submission for Budget 2027 highlights three areas of focus so that cancer outcomes continue to improve and the impact on cancer patients' lives is minimised.
1. A realistic approach to capital planning and funding cancer care infrastructure
- Fund physical infrastructure, equipment and digital infrastructure under the HSE Capital Plan.
- Ring-fence multi-annual funds for a National Radiotherapy Equipment Replacement Programme.
- Ring-fence funds to purchase additional radiology equipment (CT, MRI, PET scanners) to bring us on par with the EU average.
- Invest in building our digital health infrastructure policy.
2. Alleviating the financial hardship of a cancer diagnosis
- Abolish hospital car parking charges for cancer patients nationwide.
- Provide medical cards to all cancer patients upon diagnosis.
- Reduce the Drugs Payment Scheme threshold to €40 per month or less for all cancer patients.
- Ensure automatic entitlement to the Household Benefits Package and to Fuel Allowance for cancer patients with an advanced/end-of-life diagnosis.
3. Setting the new National Cancer Strategy up for success
- Ringfence funding of €20 million to implement the National Cancer Strategy in 2027.
- Establish a multi-annual funding mechanism for the National Cancer Strategy 2027-2036.
- Increase BowelScreen eligibility to people aged 56 and 72.
- Recruit 14 additional nurses to deliver the Acute Haematology Oncology Service.
- Invest and support the development of Advanced Practice Radiographer roles to aid in more timely access to diagnostics, treatment and surveillance in each of the 8 cancer centres.
The decisions taken in Budget 2027 will shape cancer outcomes in Ireland for years to come. Government can choose to respond to rising demand with reactive crisis management, or it can invest strategically in prevention, infrastructure, workforce and patient support.
