Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

We all know men can be very reluctant to do anything about their health. Very often, they suffer in silence until it is too late to help. That is both their physical and, very often, mental well-being. We also recognise that men are 34% more likely to die from cancer than women, and that is because they seldom seek help in time. They wait and wait, and there is a little bit of that macho element there. That is something that needs to be dealt with and needs to be acknowledged as well. Waiting lists are getting longer for everything across the country. That is one of the problems we have. When people get a scare or have something wrong with them, a lot of them think to themselves that nobody will be able to see them anyway. That has a knock-on effect on the long waiting lists we see across the State.

I want to raise with the Minister of State examples of two people in my constituency. One constituent, who we will call "A" for Albert, had a history of cancer up to about ten or 15 years ago, so that history was there. He attended the outpatient medical team in University Hospital Galway in March of this year. He was seen, and they said he had a prostate issue and that he would have to have a follow-up and need a biopsy. Nobody came back to him. He contacted the consultant's office several times. The last time he made a call to them, they told him that there were no theatre slots available at that time to have a biopsy. At the end of May, we made representations in respect of this and he was put on the cross-Border medical care list. At that stage, he had been waiting for 12 or 14 weeks to get the biopsy. Nothing happened, though. On 1 September, we finally made more representations in relation to it. At that stage, he had lost two stone in weight. He was getting very worried and very anxious. He had the biopsy on 16 September and now he is in the system. The point I am making is that it takes so long for people to get into the system. In fairness, that used not to be the case with cancer patients. Usually, they were dealt with efficiently and quickly.

We have another situation that is very similar. We will call this man "B" for Bernard. Again, he was referred for a scan for his prostate. He waited from 14 April. He had a phone review on the results. Again, they told him he would need a biopsy to proceed and, again, the waiting list continued and continued. He has been waiting 21 weeks to get the biopsy. This situation is totally unacceptable and we need to do something about it. He had to travel to Galway but he has no transport. It costs him €300 for a taxi to go to that appointment. Those are the kinds of issue that people have out there. That is why a lot of men do not say anything when something is wrong. They hear these stories. At the same time, though, we have to tell these stories because we have to get action on them.

I also want to talk to the Minister of State about mental health issues. I raised with her several times previously the case of Jimmy Loughlin in Sligo, of which I know she is aware, and what happened there. I hope to hear something back from her very soon in respect of that. However, I have another case of a man in my constituency who has a son who is in the care of the mental health services. He is violent and dangerous. When he comes home, he does not take his medication. The man refused to take him home. The HSE services put his son in a taxi and sent him home anyway without a care plan, without any medication. These dangerous situations need to be dealt with. A lot of them are dangerous because the service is not up to the standard it needs to be to provide care for people who have acute mental illness. A lot of those are men, unfortunately. These issues need to be dealt with. I have raised that case with the Minister of State specifically because I know of her remit in regard to mental health. However, we really need action in respect of all of that.

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