Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody for their presentation. On cross-contamination in hospitals and so on, particularly around a toaster, a friend of mine was in my local hospital last week for an operation and when she asked for a slice of toast a few hours later, she was told that they do not make toast anymore because of health and safety. I do not think it was anything to do with being coeliac, but that is what she was told.

A few things popped off the page, so to speak. I have a family member who has very severe coeliac disease. It was discovered about ten years ago when he was in his 30s. He has a young family and it is difficult at times for his wife to cater for his needs as well as those of his children because of everything that goes on in a family home with young children. As he was diagnosed with it quite late, it is quite severe. I do not understand the level it can go to, but I believe it is very serious. One of the things he constantly reminds me of is the cost of gluten-free products in the supermarket. Professor Kennedy was saying that people are now buying it for a lifestyle. It is nothing to do with lifestyle for him. It is to do with necessity more than anything else. I have seen some of the products and I have tasted some of them. They are not very pleasant, but they are very costly. Particularly for that family member, it has been a very difficult, life-changing experience, not only for him but also for his wife and children. It has made life quite difficult for them, even though they try their best.

Does it affect young children and how is it diagnosed in young children? Is it tested from birth? I will say in a moment why I am asking that.

Why, according to the Coeliac Society membership database, have 76% of those who have contacted the society been female, compared with 24% who were male? Is that because men generally do not look after themselves or bother about their health? Regarding the cost and if there is a bigger market for it, is it to do with the fact that it is difficult to produce these food products because of contamination and so on?

The reason I asked about young children was that I recently had a new granddaughter. She is four months old and the hospital has spent the past couple of months trying to diagnose what is wrong with her, because she has been put on a food called nutramigen. I am asking that because when one is a young mother and has a young child, one is conscious of the fact that if something goes wrong, one is trying to find out as much as possible. My daughter has searched the Internet and done everything. That is the reason I asked. It is ongoing. They are treating her with this food or milk product, but at €18 a tin, the cost is huge. I was shocked last week when she told me - it is probably nothing to do with coeliac disease, but I am just referring to the cost issue - that she pays her €144 drugs payment and then she was called back to the pharmacy to say that she could only have ten tins of this food on this €144 and everything else after the €144 she had to pay for herself. On average the baby is using a tin every three days now. At the end of the month it will cost them €300 to feed a four month old child. That is astronomical. It just does not make sense. I know I am straying from what the witnesses said, but it relates to the cost factor. Can it be diagnosed in young children and how is it diagnosed?