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

I welcome our guests and thank them for their presentations. I pass on apologies on behalf of Deputy Ó Caoláin who could not be here as he had to attend another meeting.

Dr. Bonner referred to a consensus statement and that its purpose is to ensure that patients are clinically managed in a harmonised fashion using guidance produced with the most up to date evidence. We have had some conflicting discussion on this disease. Do the guests believe that the condition of Lyme disease exists because there is evidence that people contradicts that it does exist?

A vaccine for Lyme disease was introduced in 1998 but it has since been withdrawn by the manufacturer due to controversies over alleged side effects. How are patients treated? I ask each of our guests to outline the number of patients with Lyme disease they have personally dealt with and the way they treated them.

Do general practitioners readily recognise the symptoms of Lyme disease? Are patients sent for correct screening and testing or does the disease go undetected for a long period with sufferers not being treated? Are patients living with chronic Lyme disease who do not even know they have it because they are being treated for something else?

Dr. Bonner in her presentation mentioned the Lyme Disease Awareness Week and the Tickborne Disease Toolkit. Can she elaborate on what the Tickborne Disease Toolkit is?