Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to speak on this issue along with my colleague, Deputy Butler, on behalf of the diabetes community of Ireland. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to respond to this Topical Issue. I raised this matter with the Minister for Health a number of weeks ago. It was announced a few days later that FreeStyle Libre was to be included in the long-term illness scheme for adults and children. This decision is to be welcomed. I acknowledge that this is a positive development. We are looking to see whether it can be extended to all sufferers of type 1 diabetes. This would be massively important for them. There is a great deal of concern and anxiety out there at the moment. The people who are not included in the current arrangements have put together a campaign to try to impress on the Minister the importance of their case. They have gathered 13,000 signatures to that end. The Minister of State might ask the Minister whether he is willing to meet a delegation or group to accept the 13,000 signatures and to discuss this matter for a few minutes. This would allow those who are seeking to get this extended to highlight the concern that exists in this respect.

As my colleague, Deputy Butler, said, this brilliant technology is replacing the finger-prick test. It has to be inclusive for all. We need to include it for all sufferers of type 1 diabetes. It is not right to discriminate between one class and another because they are all suffering from the same condition. At the moment, there are 20,000 adults suffering from type 1 diabetes. It appears that they are not included in the long-term illness scheme for the equipment that is being made available. The HSE advocates the use of insulin pumps in preference to other technologies. There is a direct contradiction in all of this because it has said that anyone using an insulin pump will not be able to avail of this equipment. There are major problems in this regard. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State. I welcome the decision to extend the availability of this technology to some people. We need to work together to extend it to everyone.

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