Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I hope the witnesses can hear me okay as I am tuning in from my office. I thank them for their extraordinarily comprehensive and insightful opening statement and contributions throughout. They are all volunteers yet they are the leading source of information in this area in Ireland. Listening to them has been excellent. Nearly all the questions have been asked at this point.

Every week of my life, I go online and see a GoFundMe page or something else being shared to fund endometriosis surgery abroad. It drives me insane that there is again negligence in women’s healthcare. It comes up so regularly on my timeline that yet another woman in my life, nearly almost the same age as me or possibly even younger, is crowdfunding for her surgery abroad because she cannot get the support she needs here. That is a poor indictment of where we are, which is a phrase I must use at this committee every week.

I have more than one friend who is infertile and who may have had a radical hysterectomy because her endometriosis got to that stage. Perhaps if they had been able to get treatment earlier, had been believed earlier or we had the services in place, they would not be in the situation where they are in the menopause and unable to have children in their late 20s or early 30s.

One person I know made the decision to forego any fertility treatment because she was in so much pain and was suffering so much that she just wanted to get the surgery. She said she did not have the time to have the treatment and could not take another second of living like that. It is a really sad situation for us to be in.

The witnesses talked about the GP gatekeeping. Senator Clifford Lee asked about the training that is available and what we know about that. In terms of that gatekeeping, outside of the high level work in terms of engaging with the national GP body, do the witnesses feel there is potential for a shift there, or is it part of the old style of medicine where there is that gatekeeping anyway? Do the witnesses feel there is potential for a shift in GP attitudes towards believing women, particularly young women? Do they see or feel, from the advocacy work they are doing, that there is potential for that shift in GPs manoeuvring from that gatekeeping style of medicine into that collaborative piece? Are there further blockages outside of the attitude element because we do not have the supports available for them further upstream?

My second question is around travel. I am sure the Endometriosis Association of Ireland has a lot of engagement with women who are travelling for healthcare, and the cost of that. Forgive me if this has been asked, but I am not entirely clear on what reimbursement options are available for those women, if any at all, here in Ireland if they travel for surgery. I know that some people have opted for straight-up private consultants, particularly in London. I am not sure what the difference is if a patient goes for surgery with some companies. Are there any reimbursement options if they need to see private consultants abroad? Do the witnesses have any more information on that?