Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Endometriosis Association of Ireland for its presentation here this morning and for all the work it is doing in this area.

I was in contact with someone before this meeting. A patient of theirs attended at an accident and emergency department over the weekend in severe pain. The person had already been diagnosed with endometriosis. She had already been diagnosed but medical staff diagnosed that the pain was caused not by that but by constipation. When we talk about education, maybe we should start within the medical profession itself. In fairness, GPs work hard and they have a wide range of areas to cover with all the patients whom they deal with. One of the groups that provides a lot of training and briefing to GPs is the Irish College of General Practitioners. I am wondering if the association has had consultation with the college as regards setting up information and training in this area or has it approached the association about dealing with this issue or even the college getting in consultants who specialise in this area to provide briefing to its own members because the association would then be dealing with a wider group of patients who can access advice at an early stage.