Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to say a few words. I have often stood in this Chamber when we had statements on women's health and looked around to find that there were mostly women present, so I am delighted to make a contribution this afternoon.

I am speaking as a wife, daughter and a granny to a grandson. I am very lucky. My dad is living well. My husband is a cancer survivor and my grandson is thriving. However, I am acutely aware of the Movember report into men's health. It is really worrying that the rate of premature death is 40% higher among males than females in this State. That statistic should give the Government serious pause for thought. Those are preventable deaths. That is exactly what they are. They are preventable, premature and avoidable, and focusing on helping men to live well longer will benefit us all.

As the Minister stated, 80% of suicides involve men. That is phenomenally shocking and speaks to a real lack of services and supports. It should prompt us, as a society, to perhaps reflect on how we deal with and speak about men's mental health.

As a woman, I get very frustrated when women's health issues are discussed as if we are somehow all the same. In other words, that all women have the same physical make-up, the same issues and the same access. That is not true. The Movember report shows us it is not true for men either. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work. We know that 73% of men aged 18 to 24 are concerned about the state of healthcare for men. That is very worrying ,but it is clear that more targeted interventions are needed.

GPs tell us they are concerned and have difficulty engaging with marginalised groups. However, we know that the Government does not monitor health among marginalised groups sufficiently, so it is very hard to intervene when the Government is not actually assessing the level of the issue.

In the few seconds remaining to me, I acknowledge the Marie Keating Foundation's campaign, No Bum Hole Needed. Forgive my use of that language but it is important to say No Bum Hole Needed. The PSA test is a simple blood test. It will save your life. It saves everyone's life, and I encourage any man, when offered the opportunity, to have that test.

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