Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I understand that this is not within his remit but it has taken the Minister two months to come up with a response that he gave me two months ago. It is an absolute disgrace.

I would also like to point out that I cannot recall the last time the Minister for Health came into this Chamber to respond to a Topical Issues matter and gave the Members raising these issues respect. It is not only for us as Deputies, but for all the women who are suffering from this. It is absolutely disgraceful that the Minister did not even provide an update on the review. It just goes to show the contempt that he shows to all of the women who are suffering. With all due respect, the Minister of State has been put into a very difficult position here. The Minister should have given him a considered and proper reply. We come across women who are considering suicide and terminations because of this condition. This is a BS response, if the Chair will excuse the language.

The Minister talks about an exceptional arrangement that has been put in place to ensure that women suffering from hyperemesis have access to the medication. The only exceptional thing about this system is that it is exceptionally bad. Women cannot access the drug under the drugs payment scheme unless they see their consultants, and that is an impossibility in the current medical system. It takes 16 weeks to see the consultant. It is okay for women who can afford to pay for it, but this is not acceptable. It is a very poor policy that has been put in place.

The Minister of State referred to exempt medicinal products and the need to see a consultant but that is not true. There are many other drugs, some of which I read out. There are dozens of exempt medicinal products that a person can get from their GP where the person does not need to see a consultant first. I ask that the Minister would put some time and effort into talking through those potential solutions. This is what women need. They need him to put solutions in place that will work for them and not something where he can just issue a big press release at Christmastime saying that he is giving this drug free to all of these women, and then putting these barriers up so that they cannot actually access it.

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