Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic. Sinn Féin has been to fore in the area of women's health with a number of progressive proposals in our 2020 election manifesto. The area of health has been a sphere in which inequalities are particularly acute for women. From the outrageous wrongdoings of thalidomide and symphysiotomy of the past to the more recent vaginal mesh implant and CervicalCheck scandals, we can see where inequalities have existed and where they continue to recur.

On the subject of thalidomide, I would like to support the campaign of The Irish Thalidomide Association, which is asking all those completing the census 2022 next Sunday, 3 April, to include them in the time capsule section. The association is asking that everyone simply write the word “thalidomide” and draw a line. In 100 years, no one will remember the thalidomide story, but with our help, historians will google it or use whatever the research tool is in the year 2122. This simple gesture of inclusion will means they will learn whether 2022 was finally the year where a line was drawn under that tragedy in Ireland. They will also learn that the 40 Irish survivors were amazing in all they achieved in ordinary, daily lives despite levels of unique disability.

In our own women’s health document, Sinn Féin proposed additional spending to fund and implement the national maternity strategy. Many of the recommendations in the national strategy have not been implemented due to a lack of funding, and this needs to change. We need to extend free contraception for all, to provide focused care for cardiovascular disease in women, and compassionate care to women from ethnic and other minority backgrounds. The Government’s new women’s health action plan has stopped short of setting any targets for the reduction in gynaecology waiting lists for the 35,793 patients who either need to see a specialist or need to receive treatment. Without targets we cannot measure success.

The plan also promises additional breastfeeding supports and expanded eating disorder services, but this comes against a big rise in demand for eating disorder treatments during the pandemic, putting an already poor service under more pressure. There are currently just three inpatient beds for adults in the State for people suffering from eating disorders, and these three beds are only available in the catchment area of community healthcare organisation, CHO, 6. This area includes south-east Dublin, Dún Laoghaire and east Wicklow. In other parts of the HSE, adult patients are currently admitted to local general adult mental health units. I have spoken to families recently who feel their loved ones do not get the specialist treatment they require when they are admitted to generic mental health hospitals. What often happens is patients get referred to a generic adult mental health unit and they are kept in until their body mass index, BMI, has increased. The symptoms are treated rather than the illness. Patients are often discharged back to the community without any specialist help. That is not good enough. I understand the Mount Carmel eating disorder unit has been delayed and may open before the end of this year, but we need these services in other areas of the country as well. There is more beyond the M50. Rural areas need to have services like this.

We must ensure the plan addresses the full range of health issues for women, from chronic disease to mental health to violence against women. It must also prioritise the women most likely to experience health inequalities, including women from deprived areas, Traveller women, homeless women and women living in direct provision. Consistent funding must be put in place to ensure this plan is a success. Recent years have seen a serious decline in the structures for women’s health, from the dissolution of the Department of Health’s women’s health council to the demise of the network of women’s health officers in the HSE.

We have a lot of ground to make up, and Sinn Féin will continue to hold the Minister to account to account for that. I do appreciate everything he has done so far.

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