Ms Ilanna Darcy:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members for their time today. He summarised the issue well. We were bequeathed some money in a will, which we received earlier this year, and that is why we are now in a position to employ somebody part time. Obviously, we want to ensure the longevity of that paid staff member, and that money is largely earmarked to do that. Funding on top of that would be most welcome. One part-time person is not sufficient to deal with the level of endometriosis that exists. We want to grow as a charity in size and in the support we can provide to the endometriosis community, to unite the voices of sufferers, advocates and ourselves and, we hope, to have regular dialogue with this committee or other forums to drive the national endometriosis framework forward in order that we will start dealing with some of the issues that exist. There will be benefits to society as a whole in doing that.

Research is the other area where funding could go a long way. As Dr. Canny mentioned, there is no cure. We need more research to understand what causes the disease in the first instance to be able to treat people adequately. We would love to be in a position to fund some research by PhD students, but we need support to be able to do these things. We hope this will not be the final time we meet the committee but rather the first of many and that the outcomes from this meeting will help us to move forward with what I outlined.