Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I listened to the Minister's exchange earlier with Deputy Daly during which he said that the symptoms are real. That is different from a previous exchange the Minister and I had on this issue. The reality is that there are over 220 girls whose parents are distraught by the change they see in their daughters. Young women, who were bright, articulate, intelligent, going to school and looking forward to their lives are now unable to get out of bed and have to drop out of school, in addition to presenting with a number of other symptoms. This has been dragging on for some time. The parents made a very worthwhile presentation at the health committee and were definite that they are not against vaccines. The reality is that these girls are all presenting with symptoms and we are not getting to the bottom of them. There does not appear to be an urgency to do so. If it is not the vaccine then what is the cause?

There is also a serious issue around the lack of substantial information provided to parents beforehand. They were given a leaflet providing limited information in the schools and were directed to a website if they wanted to check further. These are very ill young women. Will we have a proper investigation into the cause of their illness so those issues can be addressed?

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