Taoiseach Bertie Ahern defended the Government's performance on health services in the face of renewed Opposition attacks.
Mr Ahern said the Government was again this year making a large allocation available for cancer control, screening, acute services and research.
"The increase in investment this year is almost three-quarters more than the comparable investment for the previous years to support the implementation of the national cancer control programme."
He said the HSE and the Department of Health were also working on the means to implement the national plan for radiation oncology services to meet the timeframe. It would take until some time in 2011 to roll out radiation oncology services on a national basis.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that on Monday he had spent some time at the hospital bedside of a man he knew well who was dying of cancer. "His wife sat there holding his hand as the end approaches. Many members will have had this experience with a family member, an acquaintance or a friend."
He added that the National Cancer Registry report had indicated that women suffering from breast cancer had a 30 per cent higher chance of dying if they lived in the west and the midlands than if they lived in Dublin.
"Men with prostate cancer are twice as likely to die within five years if they live in the mid-west than if they live in the east."
Mr Ahern said he welcomed the report which covered the period up to 2001, some six years ago. There was no doubt that there were regional disparities in cancer survival rates.
"The cancer strategy published last year, which was welcomed by all the stakeholders, is designated fundamentally to change that."
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) said due to gross mismanagement on the part of the HSE and the "Pontius Pilate" attitude of the Minister for Health, her department and the Government, the intended opening of the new maternity hospital in Cork did not proceed as planned.
Mr Ahern said he had supported the Labour Court's recommendations and hoped the matter would be resolved during the week.
Mr Ó Caoláin said it was incredible that the Minister had failed to make the required intervention to ensure that adequate staff were in situ before the opening of the hospital.
