Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Anabolic steroids, which are used to increase muscle mass, comprised almost half of the medicines seized last year. We are attempting to get a clear picture on the issue from all Departments because, as the Minister pointed out, the issue does not only concern one Department.

The HPRA seized 450,000 doses of anabolic steroids in 2017 in comparison to just 109,000 in 2016. That would indicate that there is an increase in the use of such drugs. I am not sure whether the Minister is aware of a condition known as muscle dysmorphia. It is where a person becomes obsessively focused on not being muscular enough and it affects more men than women. It is an issue we should tackle. We are all having conversations about how men behave but we must also consider how men view themselves and what can be done in that regard. Our interest is to ascertain if there is an increase in such drug usage and to try to understand the reason.

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