Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If a person is in addiction, his or her health is not necessarily the priority in life, and that is the big challenge. It demonstrates the importance of on-the-ground experience and information coming from one's own peers or someone who has experienced that journey. Our guests made a point about the lack of information, minimal supports following a diagnosis, how to live with the disease and how to protect others. They were all the big questions Mr. Murphy had and it is the same with many medical conditions. If someone who has been diagnosed with cancer can talk to someone who has been down that road and gone through the process about what is involved, that will significantly alleviate the scare factor. There is an element whereby some people might say they do not want to know the details, and Mr. Murphy hinted in his opening statement about not knowing for years what the next step was or where to go. How important is that information? He suggested that a peer-to-peer system be rolled out.