Gráinne Seoige 'not using cancer as political football' as candidate ...
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has rejected claims that general election candidate Gráinne Seoige is using cancer as a political football after her controversial ad campaign caused outrage.
The advert for the Galway West candidate, which appeared in local and national media, said that cancer services in Galway are the worst in the country.
She added if she is elected, she will work to ensure the sector sees greater investment.
It read: ‘Did you know that treatment for cancer outcomes in Galway are the worst in the country? More investment can change this. If elected, I will work to bring this investment to ensure all people get equal treatment in Galway.’
Speaking on The Week In Politics on RTÉ, Minister Donnelly rejected the idea that his Fianna Fáil party colleague was taking aim at him.
He said: ‘Gráinne is calling out something that is very real. This has been a long-standing issue,’ he said. ‘She’s standing up for the region. That’s why we’ve invested in an €80m radiation therapy centre. It’s why we’re committed to a new cancer centre in Galway hospital. It’s why we have expanded cancer services over the last four years at an unprecedented rate.
‘What Gráinne is calling out, quite rightly, is that more needs to be done. It’s why we fully funded the National Cancer service, and it’s why we have such a big level of investment in cancer services now in Galway.’
Ms Seoige strongly denied the ad was a swipe at her party colleague, but rather she was reflecting the facts of the matter. ‘I don’t believe that it’s a criticism of Stephen Donnelly at all,’ she told The Irish Times on Saturday. She said that Prof Michael Kerin, the chair of the Saolta Hospital Group’s cancer-managed clinical academic network had said that the ‘outcomes in this part of the world are down to an Eircode lottery’.
Ms Seoige said: ‘They’re the facts at the moment.
‘I will never apologise for standing up for women’s health. I was patron of the NBCRI some years ago. I’ve made a documentary on menopause. It is something really close to my heart.’
But the ad also caused hurt to families who have had loved ones die from cancer. One X user said: ‘My mother almost died last summer at Galway University Hospital due to gross overcrowding, a chaotic system and incompetence.
‘I cannot put into words how enraged this ad makes me feel. Shame on you and your party.’
Another said: ‘The insult to doctors and nurses working under very tough conditions caused by her own party’s policies? Cancer patients & families are not political football.’
