Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their very informative presentations. Like others, I was around in the 1980s and I remember the campaigns, which I found shocking and effective. There has been a 160% increase in HIV infection, which I find alarming. Why has there been such a spike? How widely is the trust curriculum being taught and what are the obstacles to facilitating it? There seems to be a broad trend of increases in sexually-transmitted infections. Is this due to factors such as the economic crisis, or have cutbacks to some services and reductions in accessibility contributed to it?

A substantial increase in calls to helplines was mentioned, and this raises the challenge of capacity. How is the current level of calls being managed and is there a need to increase the helpline services? Mr. Goulding has faced some very severe challenges in his life. Is adequate HIV testing available, and if there are gaps, what are they?