Mary Lou McDonald
Dublin Central · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Now he watches as Paudie, his other son, aged 16, deteriorates with the same disease. He says Paudie does not have weeks to wait. He says, "I can't lose him [too]. He is all I have left." That is what is at stake here. This is urgent. Caithfidh an Rialtas an rud ceart a dhéanamh dóibh siúd a bhfuil Friedreich's ataxia orthu.”
“We know that both scramblers and e-scooters are being used by gangs to distribute drugs, to openly and actively intimidate, and to evade the gardaí and, yet, we heard the Garda Commissioner say that there would be no chance of pursuit training until next year because of the EU Presidency. I found that really shocking.”
“Their hopes were very high that the HSE drugs committee would finally approve Skyclarys, but those hopes were to be dashed. The committee decided against approving the drug. Instead, it referred it to a rare disease review group. In other words, one committee passing the buck to another committee.”
“This cruel condition moves relentlessly, ravaging their bodies and their lives, yet the system stands still, putting up obstacle after obstacle, forcing them to wait and wait as time slips by. This drug was approved by the EU Commission back in 2024. Two years on, it is available in France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain and Czechia.”
“So we are clear, it is not that all of this is frustrating for those living with Friedreich's ataxia; it is actually terrifying for them. I met Emily three or four weeks ago and I was speaking to her again on Tuesday. Even in that short time span, she told me that her swallow and speech had disimproved. We are on the clock here.”
“There is someone the Tánaiste knows very well in the Public Gallery. She is the unstoppable and heroic Cara Darmody. Cara has just completed her third 50-hour protest outside the Dáil, calling for real action for children and young people waiting for an assessment of need.”
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“The Minister for Health has finally confirmed that parents are receiving letters about operations on children as far back as 2010. This is the first confirmation from Government that this scandal goes back at least 15 years, and not the two-year period previously asserted by Government. We have been raising this issue with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste for weeks. We did so because we had been contacted directly by parents literally at their wits' end, having received letters from CHI regarding operations their children had 15 years ago. We have been raising it with the Taoiseach, conscious of all of those parents who are now asking themselves whether their children were operated on unnecessarily, how this could have happened and what the consequences are.”
“I offer condolences to everyone who loved Garda Kevin Flatley: his heartbroken wife, Una, and their two children, Aoife and Erin; his parents, family and friends; and, of course, his colleagues in An Garda Síochána. He was a devoted father, a man with a deep grá for community and a GAA man with his beloved club, O'Dwyer's in Balbriggan. His death is a devastating reminder of the dangers faced by gardaí as they keep us safe. Tá fear maith caillte ag a chlann. Tá garda den scoth caillte ag a phobal. Seasann an tír ag caoineadh leo. A good man is lost to his family, a great garda is lost to his community and the country mourns with them. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. The controversy regarding unnecessary hip surgery carried out on children in CHI hospitals has deepened.”
“Why does the Government continue to block Sinn Féin legislation that will ensure savings go back to customers and not into the pockets of the insurance companies?”
“There is very grim reading for motorists today. Motor insurance is up a whopping 9% in just 12 months. It is now at its highest level in five years and more than double the EU average. There is no mystery as to what is driving this. It is profiteering, plain and simple, off the back of ordinary people trying to get to work and get their kids to school. Insurance companies here boast profits above and beyond what they make elsewhere, with profit margins two and three times the industry average. All the while, the Government stands impotent on the sidelines. Savings arising from reforms passed by the Dáil have not been passed on to customers. Instead, insurance companies are lining their pockets, and it has been a bonanza for them.”
“The Minister has been caught out here and he is continuing to duck and dive today. I want clarity from him. He will return to the NTMA. What salary will he be on? Will it, in fact, remain at €430,000? It is an obscene salary in anybody's mind.”
“In the spirit of being helpful to the Minister, what needs to step up is the performance of the Minister for housing and indeed the collective performance of Government. All of that is just verbiage that the Minister has offered up on that unit. The Minister for housing drives housing delivery. That is their job description, that is why they are on a big salary. The legislation is very clear that all NAMA employees and executives transferring back to the NTMA will work in the resolution unit. Therefore, all of them will hold their terms and conditions. That is what it states. Either the Government is going to remove that provision from the legislation, and please tell me if that is the case, or we can only presume that Mr. McDonagh will return to the NTMA and hold his salary of €430,000.”
“McDonagh to keep his jaw-dropping salary. He has it down, in fact, as priority legislation. I will ask straight questions and hopefully the Minister will give straight answers. Who is telling the truth about Mr. McDonagh’s €430,000 salary? Is it the Taoiseach or is it the Minister for Finance? Can we have some honesty from the Government?”
“The Government’s big problem is that nobody trusts Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to tell the truth. It was caught fibbing about housing delivery figures during the election. The Minister was in the middle of that. It was caught out with the false election promise to provide an extra €1 billion on water infrastructure and it has spent the past few months moving heaven and earth to protect its grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry. When it does business by misleading it cannot really blame people for not believing a single word that comes from the Government’s mouth. Tá an Rialtas seo trína chéile maidir leis an tuarastal €430,000 do cheannasaí NAMA. Tagann gach ráiteas nua salach ar an ráiteas roimhe, agus tá an Rialtas ag iarraidh dul i bhfolach. The Minister drafted the legislation that will allow Mr.”
“The Minister will recall that the officials who appeared before the Oireachtas finance committee in September were very clear that Mr. McDonagh would be retaining his salary. Therefore, the labyrinth of contradiction prompts people to ask what the hell is going on here. People catch the stink of something rotten. Of course, there has not been a peep from the Government on the fact that Mr. McDonagh, its once-preferred candidate for housing tsar, is renting out a house in Dublin for €10,000 a week in the middle of a housing crisis. The Government is desperately trying to save face and scrambling for cover because at the heart of this controversy is the instinct of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to keep political insiders onside, to preserve the way things work and to feather the nests of the golden circle.”
“However, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, then directly contradicted the Taoiseach. He told us Mr. McDonagh would not retain the eye-watering salary on returning to his role within the NTMA. He said that only a specific number of NAMA executives will retain their terms when the transfer of personnel takes place. Then we had the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Jack Chambers, in the middle of this fiasco. This is where it gets very Fianna Fáily. As Minister for Finance, he drafted the legislation making it clear that all NAMA executives would go to the resolution unit in the National Treasury Management Agency and that all of them would therefore retain their pay and conditions. This must include Mr. McDonagh and his €430,000 pay packet.”
“First, a warm word of welcome to the students from Inver College, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan. It is the alma mater of Deputy Matt Carthy, so they have a lot to answer for. The Government is all over the place as to what will happen with the €430,000 salary of NAMA CEO Brendan McDonagh when the agency is wound up at the end of this year. One arm of the Government does not know what the other is doing, and there has been contradiction after contradiction. When the Government’s plan was to appoint Mr. McDonagh as its new housing tsar, the Taoiseach told the Dáil repeatedly that he would retain his €430,000 salary in the role. The Taoiseach was adamant that this would be the case and that it would not cost the taxpayer any additional money because Mr. McDonagh would be seconded and the salary was already being paid from the public purse.”
“This commission report not only does a disservice to Grace but it also does a fundamental disservice to the political, social and moral imperative for all of us to insist that vulnerable children and young people are protected and, when they are not, to demand accountability. This has been called a "whitewash". I understand why that term has been used. It is utterly shocking. I have no doubt that these are matters that we will have to return to again.”
“Her statement, to my recollection, is unprecedented. I do not remember another case where the General Solicitor has come forward in this way. The Minister may correct me if I am wrong. In her statement she not alone affirms that substantive and extensive submissions were made on behalf of Grace, but the second part of what she says really matters, which is that they were not acknowledged or referred to in the commission’s report. What on earth was that all about? This report is absolutely shocking because it fails Grace again but it is all the more shocking because the world has not changed entirely and all is not well in Ireland still to this day in terms of the safeguarding and well-being of vulnerable children in care.”
“I do not believe that the commission has gotten under the bonnet of exactly what happened there for one second. What it does acknowledge is that there was a political intervention. Would we go so far as to call it political interference? I do not know and the commission does not give us those answers but we must get to those answers. The commission also extraordinarily decided not to investigate the condition or experiences of some 47 other children and young people. That is extraordinary even on the commission’s own terms and on the basis of its anaemic finding of neglect. What has the Government to say about it unilaterally making that call? Why has the Government accepted that? I do not believe it should have. Then there is the case of the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court. The Minister met her yesterday.”
“It is neglect, or perhaps even complicity. I want to go back to 1995 and 1996. The balloon goes up, the allegations are made, and the decision is taken to remove Grace from the home in question. That decision is appealed by Family X and its appeal fails. It then writes to the then Minister for Health, and the Minister acknowledges receipt of the correspondence and, extraordinarily, responds a couple of months later stating the decision was made but that there was then another appeal mechanism and that the health board had reversed the decision. I, for one, want to know exactly what happened there. I want to know what were the dynamics of that. A decision had been made, appealed and upheld turned on its head and a child returned to this hell and depravity and left there until another whistleblower came forward.”
“That is what it was. To simply dust this off as dental neglect requiring the extraction of teeth or minor instances of lapses in hygiene insults Grace and does no real justice to, and does not reflect, what actually happened. Family X – Mr. and Mrs. X – were neglectful. There were very serious and credible allegations of abuse, up to and including sexual abuse. The commission has chosen to discount that. The commission report pushes back against those very brave advocates and whistleblowers who came forward to tell the story. However, take from the commission that the family concerned, Family X, was neglectful. Of that, there is no doubt. It is to vastly understate the case. The greatest neglect and greatest failure regarding Grace is actually the neglect and failure of the State and the Government itself.”
“That means I have only five minutes. I will endeavour to air some of the issues that need to be aired on the floor of this House in the time we are sharing. I struggle to express just how astonishing and disappointing all of this is. The Minister said Grace was at the heart of this process. That is simply not true. The rights, experiences and advocacy for Grace have all been undermined by this process. It took eight years, with seven extensions, a report of 2,000 pages, a cost of almost €14 million, and the fact is that we are still left in the dark on the critical issues. The sum total of it is that the commission has made a rather anaemic finding of neglect. What I have heard about the Grace case spells out depravity to me – a fundamental assault on the most basic human dignity of a person who could not speak for themselves.”
“We are dealing with statements on a 2,000-page report. This is something that has gone on for a very long time. I know the Minister wishes to have the speech circulated. It makes our job of responding very difficult if we do not have the script.”
“I return to the Government's housing tsar and the proposal to pay this individual €430,000. Paying somebody a salary of almost €500,000 to take up the responsibilities of the housing Minister is cracked, to tell the God's honest truth. Most people who jobshare take home half a wage. The Government wants this individual to take home almost €500,000. I do not know if the Taoiseach is on a solo run in respect of this matter. His friends in Fine Gael seem to think he is. I raised the issue with him yesterday and asked him to confirm the salary of €430,000. More importantly, I asked him to justify that salary for people who are struggling hard and many of whom cannot afford housing or rent. He failed to do that. Having had the night to sleep on it, I ask the Taoiseach to come to his senses and put a stop to this.”
“It is not good enough to issue letters on something of this magnitude that Government knew about for a year and more and leave families in that position. That is unacceptable. Can I ask him again about information he does know or should know?”
“Tá an scéal go léir scannalach gan dabht. Tá sé scannalach freisin go bhfuil tuismitheoirí agus páistí fágtha gan freagraí. This thing has dragged on and on. As I said to the Taoiseach, his Minister knew a year ago. Families then received these letters and there is an audit under way. Then there is this unbearable, almost cruel waiting and waiting. I have spoken to a parent who has told me they have clinical confirmation the child underwent surgery that was not needed. That is one. I do not know whether there are more. The Taoiseach says we have to wait for the process be completed. My information is that the audit is in fact completed. The Taoiseach told me four weeks ago, by the way, that this was in "its final stages". That is not good enough.”
“They need answers; they are entitled to that. I ask him again about the reference period of the audit, how many children are affected, whether the audit is complete and when it will be published.”
“The mother is overwhelmed thinking that her child's surgery might not have been needed at all. We have also received confirmation from a parent who received a letter whose child had the surgery in 2010. That is 15 years ago. The child is now a 20-year-old adult. Does this scandal, this issue, go back that far? Tá scannal na leanaí a ndearnadh obráid gan ghá orthu ag fás gach lá. Tá soiléiriú agus freagraí ag teastáil anois. Cé mhéad leanbh atá i gceist? We have one parent who has clinical confirmation that their child's surgery was not required, and this scandal and stress are growing by the day. It should be remembered that the Taoiseach's former health Minister, Stephen Donnelly, knew about this a year ago and yet he delayed and parents are dealing with this only now. They can no longer be left in the dark.”
“She describes it as like a horror film. She asks why her child was diagnosed with a condition they did not have and why her child was put through the trauma of surgery if it was not needed. She just keeps asking herself why. Another of the mothers who reached out after she received the letter tells us that her son had his left hip operated on in 2018 but was told his right hip was fine. He was called back, however, in 2021 and told that the right hip did in fact require surgery, despite displaying no issues. She took the medical advice. She describes this as a devastating decision. She tells us her son's life deteriorated dramatically following this operation. He now suffers serious health development complications and catastrophic consequences from the surgery.”
“They are left asking themselves the gut-wrenching questions, was my child one of those operated on unnecessarily, and what are the consequences of this for my child? In the case of one parent who has been in touch, their child was only three when they had surgery. This is the first parent to tell me that they have now received clinical confirmation that their child did not need the operation performed on them at a CHI hospital three years ago. This parent has now been told by a surgeon, having reviewed the scans from three years ago, that their child's hips were fine. The surgeon says that they would not have performed the surgery. We need to let this sink in - clinical confirmation that this child's surgery was not needed. This parent is absolutely devastated. She told me that she cannot believe what has happened.”
“My understanding is that the audit into unnecessary hip surgeries carried out on children at CHI hospitals is now complete. Can the Taoiseach confirm for the Dáil that this is the case? If so, can he tell us when that audit will be published? When I raised this scandal of unnecessary hip displasia surgery on children with him four weeks ago, he was unable to shed any light on the matter. He gave me no further information and he certainly gave me no answers. So, a month on, I ask him again, how many children are caught up in this emerging scandal? Are we talking about hundreds or is it more? How many letters have been issued by CHI to parents? What was the reference period for the audit? Is it years or is it decades? Every single day, our offices receive communication from parents in distress.”
“Any Member is permitted under the standing order to propose an amendment to the Order of Business. I propose that we need statements and questions taken by the Minister for Health in respect to the emerging scandal around hip dysplasia surgery and unnecessary surgeries, it seems, on very young children.”
“I want the Taoiseach to explain how he stands over that. More importantly, why is he double-jobbing his Minister for housing? He has a full Cabinet Minister for housing.”
“The Government built fewer houses last year than the year before, and the indications are that it will fail to meet targets again this year and build less. The evidence is there for all to see in growing costs and in the levels of homelessness. All the evidence and data are there. More importantly, the reality is lived every day, so the Taoiseach can stand up and spoof and shout at me and point his finger but he cannot alter the reality of the Government's abject failure, which, astonishingly, he is attempting to dress up as success. If that is his idea of success, God help us should we ever see something he might deem to be a failure or an underperformance. I asked the Taoiseach three questions. I want him to confirm for us that this tsar will be paid €430,000. I do not care where he or she is seconded from. Is that the salary envisaged?”
“The Taoiseach deliberately misled the electorate in November, he deliberately used false housing delivery figures to take the bad look off himself - he did that brazenly - and now he is at it again. He is spinning, bluffing and taking people for fools. As he spectacularly fails, he dreams up this appointment. Can the Taoiseach confirm the new housing tsar will be paid €430,000? Can he tell us how on earth he stands over this? Can he explain to us why he is recruiting a jobshare for his housing Minister?”
“We have had the most expensive bike shed in the world, the €1 million security hut and the €9 million on phone pouches so people already know that the Taoiseach's Government is a serial waster of public money but this one really takes the biscuit. It has actually gone to the trouble of making up a job with a salary of €430,000 simply to give the appearance of Government action when it is doing nothing at all except going around and around in circles. It is the Government's clearest admission that it has no new idea of substance or any real plan to fix housing. Nuair atá Fianna Fáil agus Fine Gael ag plé sár a earcú chun jab an Aire tithíochta a dhéanamh agus €430,000 a íoc leis, tá siad ag admháil go soiléir go bhfuil plean tithíochta an Rialtais ina phraiseach.”
“The appointment of the housing tsar changes nothing for them; that is the truth. This new, cushy job is part and parcel of the same broken Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael policies that landed us in this mess in the first place. As house prices, rents and homelessness all continue to rise, and as the Government parties miss their inadequate housing targets year after year, the Taoiseach's next move and his next big idea is to appoint another bureaucrat on an eye-watering salary. It truly beggars belief.”
“It is clear the Government has no confidence in the ability of the Minister, Deputy James Browne, to do his job. This €430,000 is a slap in the face for working people who are hit with rip-off bill after rip-off bill and who struggle to make it to the end of the week. It is a kick in the teeth for those saving every spare cent as they desperately try to put together the deposit for a house and for every young person who has been forced to leave this country because he or she cannot afford a home. How does the Taoiseach justify this extravagant, gold-plated salary to those who are forced to fork out €2,000 on rent every months, to families who wait and wait on council waiting lists for a home or to mothers and fathers forced into homelessness, raising their children in hotel rooms or hubs?”
“The outrageous salary the Taoiseach proposes to pay his new housing tsar is €430,000. It is nearly half a million euro - an astonishing amount of taxpayers' money for the salary of just one person. It is more than the Taoiseach's very generous salary. It is even more than the President of the United States is paid. It is equivalent to the starting salary of 11 new nurses, 11 new gardaí or 13 new special needs assistants. What is to be the role of this new highly paid tsar? From what we have heard, he will focus on removing roadblocks to housing construction, getting houses built more quickly and speeding up housing delivery or, in other words, the main responsibilities of the Minister for housing. That is a very expensive jobshare.”
“The Government cannot take its eye off the ball on that score; there is far too much at stake. If we focus on those areas that we can control, and if we show ambition and vision in defending the prosperity of workers and the growth of business, we stand the best chance of weathering this storm and building a future in which Ireland's economy and the well-being of our people can be enhanced.”
“We must ensure the EU pursues a pragmatic policy of de-escalation without compromising on important laws and regulation designed to protect the all-island economy, the environment, human health and important sectors such as agriculture. There has to be a real emphasis to ensure the EU does not make retaliatory tariff decisions that make a target for the US of key Irish enterprise sectors. There must a real drive now to build our competitive advantage, to invest with intent in those areas that increase our attractiveness for investment, to protect Ireland from external shocks and to strengthen both our economy and our society. The chief responsibility of the Government is to stand up for Ireland's interests and to protect Irish jobs, Irish industry and the prosperity of our people.”
“I am also asking the Government to hold an all-party meeting as soon as possible and that this practice be a consistent feature of how we collectively manage this situation. If we are to work together and deal with the crisis that tariff imposition could have on the Irish economy, we need an effective, transparent, collaborative approach, sharing with all parties in the Dáil all of the information and the strategies being considered. It is clear what must happen and what must be the priorities for the Government in the time ahead. The Government must champion Irish interests in Europe and ensure any response does not risk greater damage, job losses and price hikes for Ireland.”
“We need to ensure across the island that business are supported, primarily with information initially. A Government trade forum could play a useful role in that. We also have InterTradeIreland which operates between both administrations North and South to ensure in the first instance that our business sectors, which will be concerned about developments, have all the information necessary and whatever supports might be needed in the time ahead. I am asking those in government here to work hand in glove and in lockstep with their counterparts in the Executive. The first step in this regard would be to convene the North-South Ministerial Council without delay. I am asking that this be done.”
“By making ambitious, smart investment in these areas, we stand to reap a double benefit at a time of great volatility. We can raise people's living standards and we can build the competitive advantage of Ireland being a great place in which to invest, do business and secure a job, and a great place in which to live and build a life. Protecting, growing and advancing the success of the all-island economy is crucial to building Ireland's competitive advantage and our prosperity. This has to be a high-level priority for both administrations on the island, North and South. It is a serious issue that we now have two different tariff rates on this small island of ours and potentially two very different responses to those rates and the dynamic now unfolding around us.”
“Of course, the Government needs to do much better at what is within its control by supporting domestic business, investing in infrastructure and sorting out housing and childcare provision. Getting these things right has never ever been more important. I am conscious that in the past governments have used crises as alibis not to tackle these issues and not to invest in these matters. This cannot be repeated. Successive governments have not put the basics in place to attract FDI without complex tax incentives. They have failed to invest in the areas key to building Ireland's long-term competitiveness and attractiveness - we have been saying this for years - and they have allowed our competitiveness to slip. Big and small businesses have been telling us about the issues that affect them. The scenario we now face shows that this must change.”
“We know that negotiations, dialogue and the working of relationships will be absolutely key to resolving this crisis and to moving forward. The Government must ensure the EU does not take any action that could further damage our economy, our jobs and the livelihoods of working people in this country. The priority must be to defend Irish national interests. That means safeguarding jobs, helping Irish business to grow in global markets and ensuring the all-Ireland economy continues to grow at pace. We need a plan for Ireland - for all of it - to de-risk our economy and to mitigate the impact of these tariffs. This means having supports in place at both State and EU level. It means contingency planning and ensuring our strategies are tailored to the specific challenges that Ireland will now face.”
“Whatever the reflexive instinct might be, counter-tariffs are not in Ireland's interest. The ESRI has been clear that Trump's tariffs are damaging and that automatic counter-tariffs from the EU would make things worse for Ireland. EU counter-tariffs would have the potential to cost Ireland more in terms of a hit to our public finances, job losses and higher prices for Irish consumers. Any response must be carefully considered and calibrated and must take Ireland's economic interests in their totality into account. The response from the European Union must be planned, must be strategic and must aim to get the United States to withdraw from this disastrous approach. A tit-for-tat battle is a race to the bottom and that is a race nobody can win. What we need are cool and calm heads and maturity.”
“The sector received an initial reprieve but the landing zone on pharma tariffs is still not known. In recent days, along with members of the Sinn Féin team North and South, I have engaged constructively with representatives from key sectors in the Irish economy, representatives of Ireland's pharma sector and the American Chamber of Commerce here in Ireland. Pharmaceuticals provide massive employment in Ireland and form a significant portion of our exports to the United States. Therefore, the exposure and the risk is real and must strongly inform how the Irish Government proceeds in talks with the European Union and the United States. It is clear to me that we need a tailored strategy for this sector to reduce the impact if President Trump pushes ahead with his threat.”
“As has been said, nobody wins in a trade war but we know who loses the most. Workers and families carry the can in the form of increased prices, threats to jobs and livelihoods and hits to their incomes. Trade wars are not good for the prosperity of ordinary people. That is the reality but this is the prospect we now face. It is unprecedented to use blanket tariffs to force broader trade and foreign policy objectives. US blanket tariffs are an unjustified act of economic aggression and they are going to damage the US and the global economy. Ireland's economy and the prosperity of our people are uniquely exposed to US tariffs and this has been brought home by President Trump's comments over the past 24 hours, in which he has again threatened additional tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector.”
“Last week the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that the British Government's refusal to hold a public inquiry into his murder cannot stand and is unlawful. Will the Taoiseach directly engage with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and urge him to accept the unequivocal High Court ruling and grant a full public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown?”
“Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh na mná ón Ríocht. There is a group of women in the Gallery from an Ríocht, the Kingdom of Kerry. Fáilte. In May 1997, Sean Brown, a father of six, was abducted and murdered by the Loyalist Volunteer Force gang while locking up the gates of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in County Derry. Sean's courageous wife, Bridie, and his family have fought for almost 30 years to uncover the truth about his murder. Last year at an inquest hearing, it emerged that more than 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several British state agents. The British Government has refused to hold an independent public inquiry into Sean's murder, as previously directed by the High Court.”
“Why is the Government instead offering treatments that the experts have told it will fall short and will fail? I appeal to the Taoiseach to listen to the voice of this young woman and those of the other women whose lives have been devastated by the failure to provide them with the care they need here in Ireland.”
“I know of a woman who lost a kidney to endometriosis. I know a 27-year-old who went through a radical hysterectomy because the disease, in her case, had eaten away at her pelvic organs and bowel. The services are not available to women and there should not be any attempt to dismiss or downplay the real experiences of women and girls. They are asking now for proper investment. Have a framework by all means but we need a specialised centre that offers the care that is required. Experts have been telling the Government for a decade that excision surgeries are the only way to go.”
“Nikita is 18-years-old. I am more than happy to forward the correspondence to the Taoiseach and the Minister. Nikita will travel to Romania to get the care she requires. Despite the assertions in his response, the fact is that the level of care here is simply unacceptable.”
“The lack of understanding and awareness often sees the suffering of women and girls dismissed, their pain often put down to bad periods. Instead of getting proper care, they receive outdated treatment that prolongs pain and trauma. Tá géarchéim inmheatróise i gcúram sláinte na mban in Éirinn. Cuirtear iachall ar mhná diagnóis agus cúram a lorg thar lear. Bíonn ar a lán ban fulaingt go ciúin. Caithfidh an Rialtas gníomhú chun deireadh a chur leis an gcrá croí seo. This scandal has impacted thousands of women, with very few families left unaffected and it has gone on for far too long. Will the Taoiseach commit to delivering a long overdue specialised centre for the treatment of endometriosis, and will he ensure the provision of excision surgery in Ireland is available so women are not forced to seek care abroad?”