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Wed, 11 Dec, 2024 - 01:00

There is no substitute for data in the modern world, where statistics are the key to addressing the challenges in every field imaginable. Healthcare is a case in point, with reliable information about treatment outcomes a cornerstone of planning and policy.

Hence the shock at the annual report from the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI), which compared survival rates for a number of cancers across the six HSE regions.

The report showed lower survival rates for a number of cancers in the HSE’s Mid-West region compared to the other regions. In the case of lung cancer in Ireland, 20.8% of patients diagnosed between 2009 and 2018 survived for at least five years.

Five of the six HSE regions showed similar survival rates, except for the Mid-West, with a survival rate of just 16.1%.

Five-year survival rates for colorectal cancer were 63.5% nationally, but just 59.5% in the Mid-West. With breast cancer, five-year survival was 85.1% nationally — but 80.1% in the Mid-West — while 90.4% of Mid-West prostate cancer patients survived for at least five years, below the 92.5% national figure. T

his data is expected to inform decisions on cancer services and policy-making. If so, clearly there is an urgent need to improve such services in the HSE’s Mid-West region.

The disparity between the Mid-West’s survival rates and those nationally should be a priority for the incoming health minister.

That department is often seen as a poisoned chalice for those with even loftier political ambitions — something the outgoing minister Stephen Donnelly might acknowledge, given that he lost his Dáil seat in the recent election.

However, these statistics show that the situation in the Mid-West region is literally a matter of life and death. The new minister will not be short of challenges when appointed, but this is one issue that must be tackled immediately.

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Irish universities need support

Recently in these pages, University College Cork’s (UCC) governing authority chairman Sean O’Driscoll stressed the need for Ireland’s universities to have stronger links with business.

“From experience, unlike US universities, Irish universities do not reach out enough to business,” Mr O’Driscoll said.

“In Ireland, businesses have to reach into universities and, when they do, they find it very difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating to navigate their way through overly complex organisations.”

Mr O’Driscoll was quite right on those counts, but he added a significant point that is often overlooked. Like other third-level institutions, UCC is a significant enterprise in its own right — with a budget of approximately €600m, 25,000 students, and 3,200 staff.

That point was underlined in a new report this week stating that UCC helps to generate €3.2m every day for the Irish economy, adding €1.18bn annually. It is now Cork’s third-largest employer, with almost one in every 13 jobs in Cork City and county supported by the university.

The fine print in the report is particularly interesting: UCC’s students account for €259.7m in spending annually, for instance, while alumni who remain and work in Ireland
create extra economic value for the economy of almost €100m in the first year after graduation.

The above is an endorsement of the good work being done by UCC in driving the economy of Cork generally, through both spending and employment, and is clearly one which is replicated in all parts of the country which house a third-level institution. Some of those institutions have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons recently, but that does not alter a fundamental truth — the Government must support third-level education as a key element in both our current prosperity and in ensuring that that prosperity continues.

Mr O’Driscoll’s comments on the university’s need to connect with business was well made. It should also be pointed out, however, that any business contributing €1.18bn to the Irish economy annually would be sure of bountiful government support.

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Social Democrats meet senior hurling

New TD Eoin Hayes set an unusual record yesterday, getting suspended by his own party before even setting foot in the Dáil chamber.

Mr Hayes was suspended from the Social Democrats with immediate effect after he admitted lying about when exactly he had sold shares in Palantir, his former employer, which works closely with the Israeli military.

In a shambolic press conference, Mr Hayes said more than once that he had divested himself fully of the shares before being elected. However, in a later statement, he apologised and admitted giving incorrect information.

He sold the shares a month after being first elected.

Acting party leader Cian O’Callaghan, who had backed Mr Hayes before the assembled press earlier in the day, ended up suspending him later the same afternoon.

Yesterday should have been a triumphant arrival for the Social Democrats, who won 11 seats in the recent general election and would clearly like to present themselves as a fresh alternative to the political status quo.

Yesterday, they looked anything but ready to hold experienced government ministers to account.

Their TDs can expect to be reminded of Mr Hayes’ error in parliamentary debates when the Dáil convenes.

As the late Séamus Brennan once reminded another small political party, they are playing senior hurling now.

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