Debate contribution: Public Petition: CAR T-cell Therapy Cancer Treatment

Debate contribution by Mr Justin McNulty on 6 October 2026.

MLA: Mr Justin McNulty
Party at the time: Social Democratic and Labour Party
Date: 6 October 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Assembly Business
Heading: Public Petition: CAR T-cell Therapy Cancer Treatment
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5776578

Text

The petition was launched by Catherine Sherry's brother, Martin O'Hanlon, who is in the Public Gallery with his aunts Anne and Marie Garvey. It has been signed by 6,562 people to date. The petition states:
"We ... call on the Northern Ireland Executive to promptly commission CAR-T services closer to home and to immediately begin negotiations with the Irish Government to establish all-island access to CAR-T cancer treatment now."
If you stand at the front of Parliament Buildings and look west, you will see Belfast City Hospital. The patients in ward 10 North, which is the City Hospital's blood cancer ward, and their families can see Stormont from their window, but they cannot see whether their political leaders care about them. Life-saving CAR-T treatment is available in 21 NHS hospitals in England and in hospitals in Scotland and Wales, and it has been delivered in St James's Hospital in Dublin since December 2021. It is now available in Galway, but it is not available here. Two years ago, Catherine was a patient in ward 10 North. The life-saving treatment that Catherine needed was available in Dublin, one hour down the road, but our political leaders did not take care to make it available here or allow all-island access to it in Dublin or Galway. Instead, Catherine had to travel to London by aeroplane on three occasions, which separated her from her family when she needed their love and support the most. She was exhausted, immunocompromised and fighting for her life. As she sat waiting in ward 10, looking at Stormont, Catherine asked: "Why is the treatment available elsewhere but not here? What are politicians doing? No other family should have to go through this". Catherine's family started this petition, and the thousands of people who have signed it have demonstrated their support. Many have commented that cancer services here can and should be better. We deserve better. It is imperative that political leaders step forward to provide that life-saving cancer treatment here and allow all-island access to treatment through cooperation with centres in the South. The policy priorities that were published recently by Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI (LLNI), a policy and advocacy group that comprises patients, their families, clinicians and researchers, have clearly defined what is needed. LLNI calls for the local delivery of CAR-T and other cellular therapies, a review of barriers to CAR-T delivery and the publication of a clear road map to local commissioning in the current mandate. Political leadership is needed, and the time to act is now. The thousands of people who signed the petition want political leaders to act now. After all, any one of us or our loved ones could need CAR-T treatment in future. I am very proud to table this petition on behalf of Catherine Sherry's family and the 6,562 people who have signed it to date.

476 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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