Ms Geraldine Fitzpatrick:

I will start with Deputy Ó Caoláin's questions. I acknowledge the WHO has defined infertility as a "disease". It gives recognition to the condition. That is good because it is treated completely differently from simply an "I want to have a family" type situation. The WHO definition gives it clarity. That is the positive thing about the WHO defining infertility as a "disease". I guess each country deals with it in different ways in terms of whether it is chronic, acute or otherwise. The Deputy asked about the population and one in six being affected. It is 30% a female factor, 30% a male factor and 30% an unknown factor. It can be any type of condition. The average age of people seeking treatment is 37 years. People are delaying their conception years until later, so it is more difficult anyway. That is another factor in the equation.

The Deputy asked about other Departments. NISIG is the port of call for everything, whether IVF, ICSI, adoption or surrogacy. We are only volunteers and only a support group. It is much more than what we can actually do. However, the Department of Justice and Equality is dealing with surrogacy and we hope it will deliver satisfactory outcomes for people. The problem with all the people with whom NISIG deals is their vulnerability.

It is really interesting that NISIG has been established since 1996 at a time when there was one clinic or two clinics in this country and there was very little social media. One could argue we have information overload now but actually the patients or the people using the services are just as confused and just as vulnerable. The situation is no better than it was in 1996. We have access to information but we do not have proper structures in place to support these people. We look to the Department of Justice and Equality for developments on the surrogacy issue. Since I sought this meeting, I have been in contact with the Department of Health and I hope to pursue further meetings with it, but I am not quite sure about that. It is only the start, so there is nothing further on that yet.

Senator Crown asked how long people waited in the public system. Essentially, infertility treatment is done privately. There is one clinic or two clinics which will do a few GMS people in the year but, realistically, it is not accessible to people. That is the reality.