Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I join the Chairman in welcoming the delegates whom I thank for preparing and making their presentations to us on World Aids Day. I will have to leave the meeting and may not be able to await their responses. However, Deputy Sandra McLellan will brief me afterwards. I have another engagement, but I wanted to be here for the presentations especially.

Mr. Mulligan talked about the figures for people who injected drugs. He has said current thinking attributes it to the more frequent use of a drug combination. Is this evidence-based? Will he expand a little on what he means by "current thinking"? If that is the case, what efforts are being made to properly inform the potential cohort of users of the serious risks posed by injecting this drug combination?

The increase in the first two quarters of the year was mentioned. It becomes more shocking when we see the figures up to November. We are already exceeding the figures for 2014 for new diagnoses. This is a worrying development, yet Mr. Mulligan is absolutely on the button when he says we are perhaps only starting to see the full picture.

Considering the World Health Organization's suggestion that perhaps 30% of people living with HIV do not know they have it, there should be some way of encouraging those who may be HIV-positive to get tested. It is only through testing that one can definitively establish whether one is HIV-positive. That has to be matched by a societal effort to ensure the very recognisable consequences of disclosure, as referred to by the delegates, are addressed by each and every one of us. That the consequences of disclosure are as outlined in the workplace, colleges, CE courses and, as rightly stated by the delegates, "in a variety of health care settings" is absolutely unacceptable and most worrying. I do not believe the problem is confined to dental practices, as referred to. Quite clearly, it is much more widespread in the health services. Perhaps the delegates would like to expand on it.

As a shadow health spokesperson on a health committee, I want to make it absolutely clear to the Health Service Executive, if it is taking note of this engagement today, that it has a duty to confront this problem within the health system. It needs to be confronted. No amount of trite words will suffice; action needs to be taken. We need to be quite specific in pointing out exactly where the fault lines are. They should be addressed properly. The stigmatisation should be raised in practice and nobody should ever be subjected to it again.

The stigma surrounding HIV is as insidious as the virus itself. I absolutely agree on this. I see that same stigma in a number of other areas. The delegation will excuse me not for making an analogy but for stating that the reaction to the disclosure of a mental health problem almost mirrors the reaction to the disclosure of HIV. It is imperative that all these issues be addressed.

I give credit to the members of this committee of all political views for being absolutely correct in their strong, assertive position on the unacceptability of stigmatisation in any of these circumstances. The committee can be justly proud of that. It is likely that there are other voices who take a different view, but I am happy to say I am a member of a committee that is quite united in expressing its disgust for the stigmatisation of people who have the courage to indicate, rightly and openly, what they are coping with and dealing with. Irrespective of what challenge a person faces, the best way to deal with it is in the open.

Let me address the view that HIV is no longer visible. We have said this to Mr. Brady on a previous occasion. I have not had the opportunity today to peruse the national newspapers. Yesterday, as shadow spokesperson on health, I issued a statement to the national press saying that we must challenge the stigmatisation of HIV and AIDS. I warrant that it did not see the light of day in any print organ. We are looking for answers here. There is now a degree of invisibility, and people are almost taking the view that this is one of yesterday's challenges that no longer has currency. Let me outline what I am doing about this today. We are all representatives of local constituencies. If the national media no longer feel the challenge has currency, the local print and broadcast media will most certainly pick it up. As Oireachtas Members, we could reach a much greater audience through the local media collectively than through any of our national broadcasters or outlets. I encourage colleagues to do what I am doing. I rewrote my statement of yesterday as I was sitting here earlier and will issue it for publication in my local media this week. I really feel the only way to address the problem is by continuing to shine a light on it. It has gone off the boil in terms of attention from the bigger players.

I have a number of other points I would have liked to mention, but the Chairman is very forceful at this committee. Therefore, I must conclude by saying "Well done" to the delegates. We will continue with our work.