Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. In some ways, there will be a certain amount of repetition because we have all been asked by the Movember movement to reference its report titled, "The Real Face of Men's Health", and its key findings and recommendations. If there is repetition, it is no harm because it is sending a message. I will repeat that men are dying prematurely in Ireland and that the figure is 40% higher than the rate for females. This is something that has happened over a long period of time. We need to recognise that men's health is a specific issue. I am not in any denigrating issues relating to women. I have to note that. However, men's health has been the poor relation in terms of discourse. All five leading causes of death are substantially higher among men than women.

It is also worth pointing out that deprivation gives someone five years less life compared to someone in a more affluent area. While men are 40% more likely to die prematurely than women, the rate is 46% for men in deprived areas. These are the stark consequences that we need to look at. They are nearly 1.5 times more likely to die prematurely because of deprivation.

Other speakers referred to the supports needed by GPs and the difficulty of engaging with males aged under 17 and marginalised males from ethnic minorities, members of the Traveller community, those who are LBTQI+ and members of the farming community. It is worth referencing that we need an updated study for members of the Traveller community because I think the last survey was done in 2008. That survey recognised that life expectancy for male Travellers was 15 years lower than the general male population. That needs to be looked at as well.

The report mentioned more than eight in ten Irish people think that a men's health action plan is a good idea. That is why they have a number of key asks for the men's action plan from 2024 to 2028 and wish to see progress on that and for an additional €10 million to be invested, in tandem with the commissioning of a full cost analysis because we do not want to just waste money. They want an outreach approach to engage boys, men and carers in the community in adopting healthy lifestyles and self-management.

In that respect, one thing the report did not mention, but which is hugely important, is the increasing toxification on social media. We have had different discussions on that. What it means to be a man and what masculinity is have been toxified - deliberately, in many cases - and people are afraid to expand and be true to themselves in terms of what it means to be a man in Ireland in 2025. We need more discussion of that. Men come in all shapes and forms, and more power to them.

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