Government needs to stop relying on charity and provide supports

The Irish Cancer Society’s (ICS) recent decision not to continue with hardship payments to cancer patients in need, (which they subsequently partly reversed) may not have been as ill-judged as some thought.

The ICS relies almost exclusively on charitable donations and does sterling work in providing a highly informative helpline, free night nursing to end of life patients being cared for at home, and in supporting research to find cures for this highly resistant disease.

It is not the role of the ICS to make decisions on who is eligible for hardship grants and how much they should be paid.