Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

It is back to the health issue and I welcome all the initiatives. When I was Chair of the health committee in the last Dáil term, we visited some of the facilities and were really impressed with Altnagelvin and the fact that if someone has a heart attack, they can go within that particular timespan in that area and, again, we looked at the cancer treatment and so on. One of the things that came out of it, which seemed a bit unusual, was that for follow-up treatments, a lot of people were passing the hospital and going to Sligo or somewhere else in relation to it. Again, this is one of the things that needs to be looked at. We also looked at Daisy Hill, where they said that because of funding issues and so on, theatre time that was available. It just seems that Daisy Hill, because it is located in a Border region, that would be ideal for possible development in relation to it and maybe that is something the shared island unit could look at.

I want to focus this morning on one issue. There was a group of families visiting the Dáil just before the recess and the young boys had DMD, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. They said the drug that is a game-changer for them and slows down the disorder is not currently available in the South of Ireland. It has been cleared at European level and is available in the North, but the problem is that the providers in the North do not have the funding to roll it out. A couple of hundred kids on the island of Ireland are affected by this. I raised it with the Tánaiste in the Dáil and he raised it at a side meeting with the Ministers north and south. It just seems like an ideal issue for the shared island unit. We have the funding and the North does not, while we have access to the drug and they do not. It is an urgent issue for these children. It is a game-changer for them and buys them time. The disease itself is wasting and this drug, which is available, can slow it down.

This is a cry for help for all those families. I would appreciate it if the witnesses could go back to the Minister and see if there is a possibility there. I am not sure if it is on the unit's agenda but it just seems a practical fit for the Department and the shared funding. I would appreciate if the witnesses had any update on that.