Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I welcome all the ladies in the Gallery who have suffered long enough. I thank Senator Maria McCormack who has travelled the length and breadth of the country to be informed of endometriosis. I have said in the House before that this State has a sad history of failing women. The Government continues to fail women today when it comes to the diagnosis and care for those with endometriosis. It is accepted by clinical specialists that the true prevalence of this condition goes beyond the official figure of one in ten women. The failures to diagnose and believe women when they say they are in pain, and the failure of a Minister to act, have led to nine-year delays in women being able to access adequate treatment.

Sinn Féin has hosted nine meetings across the State. The stories told by women were harrowing. Women have been dismissed, not believed and told to go to invisible endometriosis hubs. Women who have been told to do this have travelled to England. Why would they do that if the treatment were here in this country? What has been apparent at Sinn Féin’s public meetings is that endometriosis does not simply impact on women. It impacts on families, quality of life, intimacy and planning for and having children. It impacts on people’s ability to get an education and to work, with 95% of respondents to a Sinn Féin survey indicating they had missed such commitments.

Sinn Féin recognises these impacts on women, families and our society. That is why our motion calls for a dedicated, multidisciplinary endometriosis treatment centre to be staffed and resourced to provide diagnostic and holistic management and specialised excision surgery. We want to see gold standard surgical management for this agonising condition. Unfortunately, the Government's amendment tonight represents anything but that. I am disgusted by it.

With regard to women who choose to avail of private treatment abroad, women travel abroad for healthcare for chronic conditions but they do not travel abroad to enjoy it as a trip. They do it literally for the good of their health because they have been failed by the Minister's health service. I call on all Deputies to support the Sinn Féin motion. The Minister should withdraw the callous and uncaring amendment and listen to the stories of many women who are suffering immediately.

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