Mr. John Lindsay:

On behalf of everybody associated with Chronic Pain Ireland I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for inviting us here today. In my written submission I stressed the importance of having pain medicine declared a medical specialty and having chronic pain declared a disease in its own right and how important it is to develop a national pain strategy. There are others here better qualified to talk about those areas so I will leave that to them.

Chronic pain has a devastating effect on people's lives. In the few minutes available I would like to read out accounts of the impact chronic pain has had on the lives of some of our members. I will not give their names, just where they are from. This will give the committee some idea of this impact. These are real people with very serious, complex medical conditions and they have difficulty accessing appropriate treatments and services.

A lady in Headford, County Kerry, says that through chronic pain she has lost seven years of her life and it has cost her the babies she can never have. It has changed her to a shadow of her former self, has made every single task an unbearable pain, taken her dignity, her love of life, her joy. She says each day is a challenge to endure.

A gentleman in Dunboyne, County Meath, says he does not know how much longer he can put up with the pain before he kills himself to end it.

A gentleman in Dublin says chronic pain is controlling his life, his being and humanity. He says life should be easier. His life revolves around the pain and everything suffers. Sometimes he wonders is it worth coping with.

I have approximately 100 accounts, all very similar, along those lines. If many of these people had had early access to appropriate interventions and treatments they would probably be back at work and not a burden on the State, as they are today. Most of the members we represent tend to be at the severe end of the spectrum.

All are unemployed and in many cases, spouses have had to give up employment in order to help them to cope. It is a devastating problem that needs to be dealt with. As I stated in the submission to the committee, chronic pain costs the State more than the cost of cancer and diabetes combined. Professor Charles Normand's research has found that the cost to the Irish State for chronic pain is €4.6 billion a year. This could be addressed if appropriate resources were put in place. Some services are available but we have no doubt that significant money would be saved by appropriate services and early stage intervention and referrals. At present, on average, most of our members have been to see seven health care professionals before eventually getting to see a consultant specialising in the particular condition.