Jennifer Carroll MacNeill
Dún Laoghaire · Fine Gael · Ireland
“It will be provided by a registered pharmacist in accordance with the relevant pharmacy legislation, including this Bill. Section 2 of the Bill makes various amendments to the Irish Medicines Board Act and the Pharmacy Act. Those amendments ensure that whole legislative framework is cross-referenced correctly.”
“We now have a common conditions service where you can go to a pharmacy instead of a GP to get a diagnosis and prescription for eight basic conditions like conjunctivitis or urinary tract infections - the kind of things that just come up in people's lives all the time. We would like to expand more and more what pharmacies can do.”
“In particular, the board will be focusing on aspects of menstrual health, on aspects of postpartum mental health, particularly in traumatic birth cases, on something we have overlooked for some time, which is endometriosis, on women who are finding it difficult to access services in different ways, as Senator Harmon suggested, and on more…”
“The extension to 41- to 45-year-olds could possibly be €5 million to €8 million because there are statistically fewer women in that bracket trying to conceive, so the numbers are higher. It really is a question of funding. I remind Senators that they have also asked me to fund various other programmes.”
“That followed confirmation from the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Health Products Regulatory Authority that the patch and ring are classified as medicinal products, not medical devices. That is just a correction there.”
“That is why we have put so much money into supporting them in different ways, including the conclusion of a €50 million increase to their fees and to provide for the opportunity to raise private funds in this way, for example, the common conditions service. I want to see pharmacists doing more.”
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“That is why we have put so much money into supporting them in different ways, including the conclusion of a €50 million increase to their fees and to provide for the opportunity to raise private funds in this way, for example, the common conditions service. I want to see pharmacists doing more. I believe in pharmacists and community pharmacy. It is an exciting opportunity for any pharmacist to continue to participate in these different schemes. First and foremost, and most importantly, this will make a big difference to women. I would like to go further with the free contraception scheme. It is a question of how we balance the budget and different needs that we all recognise for people. How do we do that in the most sensitive, appropriate and intelligent way over time with the funding that is available?”
“It is a service that generates fees for pharmacists. It is an opportunity to work at the top of their profession. I have found them to be really enthusiastic about this whole programme about expansion. It is far from withdrawing. They are able to hire more people. We have put more supports into being able to train at a totally different level. We want to give them the respect they need. I am more interested, if the Senator will forgive me, on supporting patients and access to patients.”
“In particular, the board will be focusing on aspects of menstrual health, on aspects of postpartum mental health, particularly in traumatic birth cases, on something we have overlooked for some time, which is endometriosis, on women who are finding it difficult to access services in different ways, as Senator Harmon suggested, and on more marginalised groups. It is about trying to find and understand different ways to make contact with them and make sure they have the health they are entirely entitled to. I forgot to mention the hormone replacement therapy, HRT, arrangement, which is now free for women. I do not have concerns about pharmacists' continued participation. It is always wonderful to see advocacy for private businesses by the Social Democrats. They have been enthusiastic in signing up to the common conditions service.”
“However, it is still true to say that women's health has not been understood as a distinct thing. For example, cardiovascular disease presents entirely differently in many cases with women. Heart failure has different symptoms in women than in men. We know that. We have a Her Heart Matters programme to try to dedicate more resources and understand the differences between women and men when it comes to conditions of that kind. This year, we have provided funding of €2 million to the Health Research Board specifically for research on women's health to differentiate it and make it different.”
“The extension to 41- to 45-year-olds could possibly be €5 million to €8 million because there are statistically fewer women in that bracket trying to conceive, so the numbers are higher. It really is a question of funding. I remind Senators that they have also asked me to fund various other programmes. We could be here talking about menopause and how we would like more specialist menopause clinics, which we are extending. It is important that Senator Tully raised this. I have put an emphasis on women's health generally. We have not had an emphasis on women's health historically. I pay tribute to my predecessor, Stephen Donnelly, and to a previous Minister, now Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, who both began the women's health task force. We have seen nearly €200 million invested in women's health specifically as a consequence of that.”
“I thank Senators for their support and enthusiasm for this legislation. It is very practical and will improve access to healthcare for women. On the age range, this scheme was introduced in a phased way to protect the taxpayer. The emphasis was on the youngest women first, recognising that they probably had less money and that they were not as likely to be at the phase of trying to conceive as somebody in their late 20s or early 30s. The intention was to focus and build over time. I would very much like to continue to extend it. We reckon that for every year we extend the scheme, the additional cost is about €1 million. The extension to 36- to 40-year-olds is likely to be €5 million.”
“Thereafter they will go back to the pharmacist to get their blood pressure checked, have a consultation and have the prescription renewed for the next four and a half years. It is a fantastic thing for expanding women's health and access to healthcare generally. I hope the Seanad will agree.”
“This will free up space otherwise needed for more complex consultations in GP surgeries. We are trying to move as much as we can into pharmacies. 2026 is a big year for that because we have launched the common conditions service and now have 95% of pharmacists signed up to it. People can go in and pay €30 or €35, whatever it happens to be, and get a quick diagnosis and a prescription there and then. Now we are adding this as well, for the convenience of women. Yes, that first prescription has to come from a GP because we know that many women have complex conditions, maybe blood pressure, or are of a certain age whereby there has to be an initial clinical assessment done.”
“We now have a common conditions service where you can go to a pharmacy instead of a GP to get a diagnosis and prescription for eight basic conditions like conjunctivitis or urinary tract infections - the kind of things that just come up in people's lives all the time. We would like to expand more and more what pharmacies can do. They are the first point of contact for medical contact. Pharmacists are extremely well trained. They have been in university for five and often six years. They are exceptionally good medical practitioners and they are trusted by the community. I want to see more done much more naturally in a pharmacist's than in a GP clinic. We can expand access to GPs, who will have the commensurate space in their practices due to people going to pharmacies for common condition services and the free contraception scheme.”
“That followed confirmation from the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Health Products Regulatory Authority that the patch and ring are classified as medicinal products, not medical devices. That is just a correction there. To sum up, the most important thing is that the Bill will improve access to hormonal contraception, including but not limited to the free contraception scheme. It will widen the range of services that can be delivered in the convenience of one's local pharmacy. It will improve patient choice and convenience. It will save money for private patients and, separately, for the State, by reducing costs for the free contraception scheme. It is going to provide essential additional capacity for additional women's health measures. We have spent a lot of time trying to expand what pharmacies can do.”
“It will be provided by a registered pharmacist in accordance with the relevant pharmacy legislation, including this Bill. Section 2 of the Bill makes various amendments to the Irish Medicines Board Act and the Pharmacy Act. Those amendments ensure that whole legislative framework is cross-referenced correctly. Section 4, the final section, provides the Short Title for the commencement of the Bill. Sections 1 to 3, along with the clinical statutory instruments to be drafted, align the relevant Acts to accurately define the new service. The sections also provide for clinical protocols, rules, codes of conduct and training provisions for pharmacists who would like to provide the new service, and I hope they will be many. I would also like to note that I introduced amendments in the Dáil to remove the term "medical devices" from the Bill.”
“The clinical basis for pharmacies prescribing is provided for in the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 and similar to the common conditions service, regulations for this service are going to have to be published after the Bill is enacted. The Bill and the secondary legislation, training and clinical protocols that will follow it will support the terms and conditions for this service, as laid out in the community pharmacy agreement. I will take Senators through the provisions of the Bill. Section 1 amends the definition of "scheme provider", previously limited to medical practitioners, for the provision of prescriptions. The Bill expands the definition to include retail pharmacy businesses entering into an agreement with the HSE for the provision of primary prescription services to women.”
“The service will involve the prescription of short-acting contraception, such as the contraceptive pill, the patch and the ring, by pharmacists, who already supply emergency contraception. The service will be free of charge to women aged 17 to 35, who are covered by the free contraception scheme. It will also be available to private patients with the fees for this service determined locally by the pharmacy. It is almost certainly going to be less costly and more convenient than returning to a GP for every prescription. People would have to go to the GP in the first instance for the first prescription, but thereafter for the next four and a half years they can go back to the pharmacy and get the prescription renewed there. It is likely to be cheaper for those private patients and much more convenient.”
“I am pleased to introduce the Health (Provision of Contraception Prescribing Service in Retail Pharmacy Businesses) Bill 2026 to the Seanad. The Bill proposes to include pharmacists as prescribers of contraception in clearly defined clinical circumstances, in addition to their existing role in dispensing. It will also ensure that the service will be available free of charge under the free contraception scheme. It is a big expansion of what we have been trying to do for women. The plans for this were published in 2025. We had a comprehensive engagement with stakeholders and pharmacy sector representatives. To enable pharmacy prescription, the Bill needs to amend the Health Act 1970, the Irish Medicines Board Act 1995 and the Pharmacy Act 2007.”
“I commit to the Deputy – I have already asked that it be brought forward as quickly as possible - but I recognise that we are dependent on individual clinicians who may be here or may be there who are not routinely on this and I would rather have the right people in the room to give this the best opportunity than to do it a week earlier and have missed the opportunity to have the correct people. We really are trying to make it happen as quickly as possible.”
“The difference between those groups is the first group is a standing group. It exists every month, whether it is oncology drugs or rare disease drugs, and this other one is an extra opportunity where, if the first group does not approve it based on scientific grounds, there is an extra opportunity for those clinicians who are actively working with patients with Friedreich’s ataxia or the relevant rare disease to have their say, to make their case and give the best explanation of how they think it might work. It is about the HSE giving every opportunity to make the case for a particular drug, particularly where the science is more mixed than is the case for other drugs.”
“I thank the Deputy for his continued advocacy for all people with rare diseases. We are trying to change the system specifically to get better access for rare diseases and we are partnering with other countries to try to do that as quickly as possible. It is wrong that we are negotiating against each other as member states, in some cases, with pharmaceutical companies. We have not reached the best solution on a European basis. There is work there to be done and as president of the Council of the European Union on health I will be taking this forward on that basis. Also, within Ireland we are trying to improve the system. Nevertheless, the process is, as the Deputy knows, science-led and because it was not approved by the drugs group it has to go to this rare diseases technical review group.”
“I thank Deputy Butterly. I thank Dignity4Patients and thank the men - overwhelmingly it is men - who collaborated with us and worked with us on this process. I thank Lorcan Staines who, I think the Deputy will see from the report, has adopted a most empathetic approach that is different from any language that has been used about this and about these men in the past. I thank him for his kindness and the way in which he has embraced that. Dignity4Patients was with us as a partner and the men were with us as partners at every stage. That will be the case the next time. Of course it is for Government to sign off on the terms of reference and that is always the case but we will take the same collaborative approach to the next phase as we have this phase.”
“For reasons of patient safety, it is better to begin a scheme like this in a structured way. The scheme expands access more broadly and it achieves the goal of trying to get pharmacies to do more while making life easier for women generally, which I am a big fan of. Let us start this and see how and where it goes. If the clinical advice changes on the operation of this scheme, we can come back to it. Let us start this well and move forward with it.”
“Like everything, it is better to start something and develop it rather than wait for something else. We are trying to start so much with pharmacists. It is important to remind everyone about the national condom distribution scheme too, which we are expanding to pharmacies on a phased basis. Obviously condoms are not prescription items and do not have to be covered by this legislation. Pharmacists do not have to prescribe them as such. Free condoms are being made available in pharmacy consulting rooms. Access is being phased into pharmacies in different regions. By the time we launch that scheme, participating pharmacies will be able to access a free condom supply for their consulting room so they can offer them to people who might need them, which is a good thing.”
“We are not in a position to accept the amendment, again based on the substantial clinical advice which has gone into this from the HSE and the pharmacy regulator. I am and we are trying to expand so much of what our pharmacies can do. The Deputy has great belief in pharmacists and their technical expertise. Obviously, we have established the common condition service. We are now giving them this power too and we would very much like to extend that. When it comes to contraception, that first prescription-based structure followed by a structure that monitors how women are over time, recognising that their health may change in a five-year period, is a clinical structure that is important to maintain.”
“The more structured approach that we are trying to give is about making sure that those protections are in place, that there is the clinical judgment of the GP in the first instance, followed up by the pharmacist, and also that it is not a simple over-the-counter service and there is a consultation or appointment for it. I do not think this is the case, but the Deputy can imagine a situation where a person is asking for something over the counter and there is a stigma. I am not sure that is the case at all because people have the ability to ask for things in private in pharmacies generally. Having the consultation room set-up, which I know the Deputy is not suggesting we do not have, is important. It is important that we have constructed a scheme which is more dedicated to that privacy and confidentiality structure.”
“Combined hormonal contraception is recognised as being much more effective than that but it carries additional risk, for example for women with a personal or strong family history of certain conditions like blood clotting, cardiovascular disease and cancer, those who have significantly high blood pressure, those who smoke, or those who are aged over 35. There is a link with a higher risk of adverse effects. There are other contraindications too. The clinical advice in the draft protocols, which was constructed with advice from our expert clinicians and pharmacy regulators, is looking to see that measurements such as blood pressure and other risk factors are evaluated in person and in the privacy of a consulting room. That is obviously initially with the GP but the follow-up is with the pharmacist.”
“I have better clarity on that now. This Bill is the culmination of a couple of years of work begun by my predecessor on the provision of contraception through pharmacies. That work commenced with consideration of the matter by the expert clinical committee on contraception, which was convened by the HSE. The crucial thing about the recommendations is that we are so pleased to be able to extend the follow-up service to pharmacies but we are not in a position to remove it from the clinical judgment of the GP in the first instance. That initial prescription has to come from a GP because there are so many contraindications for contraception for so many different types of women. I am aware that in some other countries, some contraceptives are given out over the counter, such as a progesterone-only pill.”
“I thank the Deputy. I confess that we were not exactly clear on the nature of the contraceptives overall. Can I just clarify whether the Deputy is referring to progesterone only or combined, or simply the initial access in the pharmacy?”
“To recap, sections 2 and 3 amend the Irish Medicines Board Act 1995 and the Pharmacy Act 2007 in order to support the clinical service and associated training requirements that must be fulfilled to provide the contraception-prescribing service. Those sections ensure that the scheme is clearly enabled and cross-referenced through a refreshed legislative framework supporting pharmacy prescription of contraception. Amendments Nos. 6 and 7 are to delete the references to medical devices within the Long Title. As I said, both of our regulators have asked that references to medical devices be removed. As stated last week, the current forms of contraception that will be included in the pharmacy prescription services are the contraceptive pill, the patch and the ring. Those are medicinal products and not medical devices.”
“I move amendment No. 3: In page 4, lines 26 and 27, to delete “or medical device”. We have a number of Government amendments to the Bill which collectively remove a reference to a medical device or devices from the Bill. Our pharmacy regulators, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, have been able to confirm to me that none of the contraceptives to be included in the pharmacy scheme are classified as medical devices. Amendments Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, essentially look to remove the reference to medical devices. Amendment No. 4 removes references to medical devices from the proposed amendments to the Pharmacy Act 2007.”
“It is not just about unplanned pregnancy; it is about other concerns and other protections. That is why we have chosen 17 and not 16. I was here for that debate some time ago. It is logical and aligned to have sexual activity consent age aligned with the age for accessing free contraception. Those things are logical. The Deputy might conversely say that it is logical around medical consent as well and I appreciate that point also. However, on the basis that I have the clinical advice, I do not have a reason to go against that at this point.”
“This Bill provides that the follow-up care and appointments would be in the pharmacy for the additional four and a half years but that she would still have to go to a GP in the first instance. If a 15-year-old presented to a GP for contraception that raises questions. Is it to manage a different condition, for example, for which there is evidence or concern? We have discussed endometriosis, for example. I do not know. I am not a clinician. I do not want to misrepresent that, but I can see scenarios as the Deputy describes in which that may be relevant. However, if there are broader child protection concerns that doctor also needs to be able to see and spend time with that girl. I am not happy to go against the clinical advice I have on this. The clinical advice I have is that earlier sexual debut is associated with adverse outcomes.”
“I hope there would be no girl at this point in the Irish healthcare system who would experience any judgment for presenting to any healthcare professional. That is not the message we are trying to send in any sense whatsoever. I also recognise there are some girls who are in extremely vulnerable situations but those are exactly the girls who also need a child protection response to what is happening to them. Seventeen is the age of consent as legislated by the Oireachtas. It is the age of sexual consent. We have spent a long time with that and there is no proposal to revise that as such. It is not the case that a 15- or 16-year-old girl will be able to go into the pharmacy in the first instance.”
“If I had all of the money in the world, of course I would simply do these different things but I have to make choices between different things that the Oireachtas wants to spend money on. There are so many requests to spend money. There are never requests to find other things to do with them. Yes, if I had the money, of course, but that would also mean having to make choices around assisted human reproduction or putting more money into menopause clinics. There are so many different things for which we need more money and more positions. I do recognise the calls from the National Women's Council in relation to that. It really is a question of how much money we have for everything. I am struck by Deputy Sherlock's comments in relation to protection. I am trying to distinguish child protection from all other issues.”
“This was in four areas: menstrual health, endometriosis, the mental health issues postpartum in traumatic birth cases, but in particular the issues around access to health generally for those much more marginalised groups. I say this as a measure of attempted reassurance about our concern for and awareness of those groups in trying to index as many different ways as possible to try to support those groups because I recognise the barriers they face in so many different ways whether it is language, culture, PPS numbers or customs and habits. There are so many different things and we want to provide healthcare for all. I am glad to have the opportunity to discuss it but I am not sure it is necessary for legislation. However, in any other context I will give the Deputy whatever information I can in relation to how we are doing with it.”
“1, I understand exactly why the Deputy is raising it. I am not sure it is necessary in legislation. We can do so much of that through parliamentary questions, the health committee and other things, and we want to do that. It is very important that both the Deputy and the National Women's Council identify the particular barriers that exist for women in certain groups, whether it is, as the Deputy said, to do with PPS numbers, or Traveller, Roma or migrant groups. There are groups that have particular barriers to accessing health. That is one of the reasons we created the women's health task force, which has a funding stream specifically and additionally for that. When it came to funding the Health Research Board, HRB, this year, I asked it specifically to support women's research with a €2 million dedicated fund.”
“It shows about 25% of 15- to 17-year-olds have had sex but the majority of those were 17 and therefore eligible for the free contraception scheme. I appreciate the point the Deputy is making. I will go with the clinical guidance on this because I do not want to rush something like that in legislation on this occasion with this amendment. I appreciate the importance of the point the Deputy is making but I also hear the case in relation to child protection more broadly and the protection of those more particularly vulnerable cases who may be presenting independent of parents. I am not in a position and I do not have research that enables me to take a position beyond the clinical expertise at this point in relation to it. I cannot put it any further than that at this time. On amendment No.”
“Though that framework should include training and education as well as child protection and legal protections, it should also provide access to contraception and sexual health services where clinically appropriate in line with international guidance on the rights of the child. However, they do not recommend lowering the age of consent, which I acknowledge is not necessarily what the Deputy is suggesting. They are suggesting that the linking of the two things is problematic and that it does not necessarily increase child protection. They are worried about different behaviours being adopted at earlier and earlier ages and having negative impacts for children. There was a very important piece of research done into sexual activity between children aged 15 to 17.”
“I thank the Deputy for the amendments and the spirit in which they have been put forward. It is important to be able to have these discussions. I will deal with second one. The Deputy is quite right that ages of consent vary. Medical consent is 16, sexual activity is 17, consent under GDPR is 18, and that can lead to some complexity. It can lead to confusion on the part of young people seeking care and risk aversion on the part of the clinicians treating them. The HSE clinical experts recommend that healthcare professionals need a clear regulatory and legal framework to manage the complex needs of those aged under 17 who present independently away from parents or anything else. There is strong concern about the child protection elements of that.”
“To the survivors, your courage told truths that other people chose to ignore and sought to ignore, the abuse that you suffered, the opportunities to protect you that were missed, the bravery it took to articulate those things at a time when you would not heard, the failure of the State, both in its health services and An Garda Síochána, to act when it should have acted, and the hurt that flowed for so many people from all of those failures. I hope that today will stand as a recognition of your truth and a tribute to your courage. I hope that it will stand for us as legislators and for those who will follow us here as a promise that the lessons of the past will never be forgotten.”
“Professional warnings must be heeded. Children must always come first. This report has clearly shown the health system's failure as part of that. Where a child is at risk, inaction has serious consequences. The legacy of this report is more than remembrance and recognition. It is another imperative for all of us as legislators to be vigilant and continually vigilant about our commitment across health and social care and all other services where children are in contact, to place the safety and well-being of children at the very centre of everything that we do.”
“It took some four years for the Children First Act to be enacted by this House. That Act is important because it has changed the landscape and legal obligation of mandated people, including teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers and childcare staff, who are now legally obliged to notify and assist Tusla where there is a risk of significant harm to the child. That is not offered by any measure of defence of any kind but simply to acknowledge how fundamentally the child protection landscape has changed and needed to change, and yet how difficult it was to ultimately make those changes in the face of a strong interest in continuing to protect the powerful from the accountability that was necessary. Child protection is never somebody else's responsibility. Concerns must be acted upon, not deferred. Information must be shared.”
“I recall when I came into this House as an adviser first and being presented with the Cloyne report, which detailed abuse in the diocese of Cloyne up to 2007. It was published in 2011. That was a report where the bishops, the church leaders, exploited what had been voluntary child protection guidelines to choose not to report abusers to gardaí. With some difficulty, Frances Fitzgerald and Alan Shatter at the time introduced significant legislative change to require mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, which was challenged by the church at the time as being potentially in breach of the seal of the confession, if you recall. It was an astonishing response to a fundamentally important change, taking the child protection guidelines, which were then voluntary, and putting them on a statutory basis.”
“The report illustrates clearly that the Irish State, through its laws, its services for children and its sex education and awareness but, more than anything else, its combined culture of protecting the powerful, was blind to child sexual abuse operating under the surface in far too many places. Children were silenced by shame and by their natural inability to articulate what was happening to them as children, and by the shock and confusion of abuse. I note that the report also recognises that changes in legislation, services, and understanding of child exploitation have been profound. The approach of statutory services has changed beyond recognition. I also want to say that those changes came many decades later and did not come easily.”
“It will weigh heavily on my predecessors and all those in the health system because that failure involved real people and real lives. The failure of the South Eastern Health Board to act on child protection concerns was not simply a procedural failure. It was a lost opportunity to stop the continuing criminal abuse of children. It was a lost opportunity to intervene, to protect, and to bring accountability many years earlier than it eventually occurred. As Deputy Bacik said, the legal environment already existed. For survivors, that failure came at a human cost and today, we must confront that truth, as the commission has done. No words can return those stolen childhoods or change or ease the suffering that was endured but we can do better and we can learn.”
“We know that harm caused by sexual abuse does not end when the abuse ends. It can travel through a lifetime, leaving wounds that are deeply felt. Today, we acknowledge not only the terrible crimes committed by Bill Kenneally but also the failures of institutions that should have protected children when warning signs emerged. The South East Independent Commission - and I thank Michael White in particular for his excellent work on this - found that when all of the evidence, expert opinion, guidelines and protocols at the time were considered, the South Eastern Health Board should have acted on the report prepared by Dr. Geraldine Nolan on 6 March 1989. That should have happened. That finding weighs heavily on me.”
“It is about sitting with those who were children, now grown, and understanding the shock of abuse that occurred to them, the confusion and difficulty in articulating it, and nevertheless finding space for some people to be able to articulate it who were not heard and not respected by the State. It is about honouring today the extraordinary courage of those who have carried these burdens, often in silence, for many decades. To the survivors of the predator, Bill Kenneally, I want to say that we recognise the pain that you have endured. We recognise and say loudly the profound impact this abuse has had on you throughout your lives and your families. It has cast a long shadow across years that should have been filled with other things. As Minister for Health, I am particularly conscious of the ongoing impact that childhood trauma can have.”
“I acknowledge the survivors here, both in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery and those who have joined us as a community in other ways. The apology offered today by the Taoiseach is an important acknowledgement by the State of the wrong done to young boys and young men within this State and not acknowledged or handled correctly in any way by the institutions of this State. For the survivors gathered here and those potentially listening beyond these walls, of course this moment is about something much more important than words. It is about taking this time to recognise that lives were forever changed. It is about acknowledging that childhoods that should have been marked by safety and possibility were instead scarred by the worst form of abuse possible.”
“I thank them for joining us at the women's health action plan launch yesterday. We must continue to advocate separately and differently against the bias that has existed against women's health and women's health research for so long. I thank Deputies Sherlock and O'Connell for raising the important issue of lipoedema in front of all Deputies today.”
“It affects 10% or 11% of women and the impact on lymphedema - the crossover that can happen - is also a significant risk with serious health implications. Women's health has been under-researched and under-diagnosed and there has been a bias in research against understanding women's health as something distinct, important and separate from health generally. We have seen that consistently in the research. It is important we take the opportunity to consider the most contemporary research on lipoedema and that it has the opportunity to feed in at every level. I will discuss it with the chief clinical officer to make sure we have all the best evidence about this condition. Like the Deputies, I know women with lipoedema. There are many of them. Like the Deputies, I want to advocate loudly for women's health generally.”
“I thank both Deputies. It is wonderful that so many other Deputies have joined us to hear that lipoedema affects 11% of women. It is a serious chronic disease and, as with many other conditions for women, we have to think carefully about the research available. Yesterday, we launched the third iteration of the women's health action plan. In that we talk about so many conditions that present differently for women. For example, heart failure in women has different symptoms, has been under-researched and under-diagnosed and treatment outcomes have not been as good because of that. We put €2 million in funding this year specifically into women's health research, precisely to identify areas that have been under-researched. Many colleagues here have talked about endometriosis. Lipoedema is just as important.”
“A working group was established in 2023 to develop a standardised, evidence-based approach for health services but I really want to discuss the matter with the chief clinical officer, recognising the evolving evidence.”
“In relation to surgery, the HSE's chief clinical officer has tasked the national clinical programme for plastic surgery with reviewing the evidence. I understand the clinical programme has provided its advice to the chief clinical officer for consideration. I would like to have the opportunity to discuss this with the chief clinical officer in greater detail. I have not had that opportunity in the context of the parliamentary questions and everything else going on. International research continues to evolve, including the LIPLEG trial in Germany examining whether liposuction can provide greater long-term improvements in pain and symptoms compared with complex decongestive therapy alone. That evidence will be important to inform any future updates to the guidance.”