The Health Service Executive (HSE) spent almost €23 million outsourcing radiotherapy services to private providers last year due to staff shortages and outdated equipment.
An additional €4.6 million was spent in the first two months of this year for the same purposes.
Radiotherapy, also known as radiation therapy, is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours.
The figures, provided in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats’ health spokesman Pádraig Rice, also reveal that University Hospital Limerick had the highest expenditure on outsourcing radiotherapy to private providers at €7.75 million in 2024.
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This was followed by University Hospital Waterford, which spent €4.9 million and St Luke’s in Rathgar, Dublin, which spent €4.6 million.
Mr Rice said the “growing trends towards outsourcing and privatisation must be stopped”, with total expenditure last year of €22.6 million.
“The Government shouldn’t be spending this much money outsourcing vital cancer treatment while we have radiotherapy machines and CT scanners lying idle. Instead, the HSE should be investing in staff. Last year, Siptu highlighted a 30 per cent shortfall in radiation therapists,” Mr Rice said.
“Across our health service, the HSE is becoming increasingly reliant on private providers to plug significant gaps in services which have been caused by an understaffing and under resourcing of public healthcare.
“This creeping privatisation of our health service is in direct contradiction to the principles underpinning Sláintecare and it will only serve to deepen public capacity deficits.”
A spokesman for the HSE said the service was outsourced generally due to staffing or equipment issues but the National Cancer Control Programme “meets regularly” with the public radiotherapy services to understand the capacity issues within the service and to help mitigate appropriately.
“All time-dependent patients are clinically prioritised and usually start treatment within two weeks. Currently there are no public services closed due to staff shortages,” the HSE spokesman said.
The HSE said the shortage of radiation therapists was an “ongoing issue nationally and internationally”, with the vacancy rate at 15-20 per cent in 2025.
“This is a significant improvement from 2024 when vacancy factor was between 30-35 per cent. Recruitment of radiation therapist/physicist and engineering staff is ongoing,” he said.
With regards to equipment, the HSE said new radiation oncology centres opened in Cork in 2019 and in Galway in 2023.
“However, within Dublin the use of older machines, particularly in the St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network, remains a concern with some machines 14 years old,” the spokesman said.
“This means the machines break down, leading to an increase for machine down time. To address these challenges, the phase two expansion of the radiation oncology at Beaumont Hospitals is an urgent priority to replace old machines.”
