Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I begin by complimenting the work of our national broadcaster, RTÉ Radio 1, on its work this week to provide a platform for the women of Ireland to give personal accounts of their own stories, their personal menopausal journeys. It has been liberating to hear them open up about women's health issues and, for far too long, an issue that has been buried behind walls of fear, shame, denial, hurt and ignorance. Joe Duffy allowed these women to kick the lid off decades of silence on a topic that needs a radical shift in attitude from our health service. We know that 40% to 70% of women in Ireland say that menopause is still a taboo subject. Education and research are central to removing taboos around menopause, informing women about a key life change and recognising it as part of a life course approach to women's health. From my research, the HSE states that only one in ten women seek medical advice when they go through menopause. While menopause may not impact all women, some are affected and find it difficult to function in the course of their normal life.

I seek a commitment from the Minister of State for a public awareness campaign to break the taboo and stigma of speaking about menopause. I compliment the Minister of State because in my time in Dáil Éireann and long before my time, she has proven herself to be one of the most proactive and progressive Ministers with responsibility for health as part of the team in Dáil Éireann. I have absolute confidence that she will deliver on this important issue for the women of Ireland.

Key to all of this is education for the next generation of young women. That is why I am calling on the Minister of State to collaborate with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, to deliver menopause education through the social, personal and health education curriculum for all teenage boys and girls, as introduced in the UK in July 2019. This is important as raising awareness of menopause and perimenopause will enable the issue to be discussed for women transitioning from menopause to seek and receive support. It is clear that menopause is under-represented in what we discuss and there is a lack of information which can leave women going through this especially difficult part of their life misdiagnosed and feeling that they are alone, when they are actually experiencing common symptoms which other women in their lives, around them and in their community have.

We must support women to lead healthy and fulfilling lives through menopause and we can do that. We need to provide the information about menopause, its symptoms and its impact, and provide a space for women to have conversations about their personal, lived experience with menopause. It would be remiss of me not to mention the Midlife Women Rock Cafés which began in County Waterford. I heard them yesterday on Joe Duffy's show, talking about how they started as a small acorn and have now developed in to a big oak tree, and they are now delivering those information cafés virtually across the country. As somebody who is from that county, I ask the Minister of State to look at that as a model that could be rolled out to provide compassion. That model is there and appears to have worked and they have all of that experience. It is another part of the model of care that we could provide and look at.

We should help women to find solutions and supports for themselves, supporting women in their own lives. This is not just an issue for women but also for men. Men should be aware, educated and able to provide women support in their lives as they go through this difficult journey.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Smyth for providing the opportunity to speak to the activity both under way and intended in this area. I agree with the Deputy that the broadcasting in the last two weeks, although I have not heard all the programmes myself and will listen to them later, did the State some service. I was looking over the notes tonight and saw that the topic was menopause. As one of the Ministers of State at the Department of Health, I am probably well placed to speak on menopause. It is timely that we are having that discussion, that I am here tonight and that I can understand what some of those women are going through.

It is important that the Government recognises that menopause is a key health issue for women in Ireland today, and work is under way to drive progress in this area. This is being driven by the women's health task force, which was convened in September 2019, to improve health outcomes and health experiences for women and girls. A number of initial priority areas for action were determined by the task force, with the issue of menopause recognised and included as one of these priority areas. It is great that that has happened. I thank Deputy Smyth for her interest in so many issues related to women's health. As Deputy Smyth quite rightly said, there is a taboo about talking about menopause openly when it affects so many people's lives. Some 51% of the population of Ireland are female. Many people have husbands and partners so men know much about menopause too. It is great to have us talking on the airwaves about issues which affect everyday life.

Work was undertaken in 2020 to identify areas for activity related to menopause. Evidence, research and stakeholder engagement, which included advocates and women who had experienced menopause, health professionals and policy makers, informed a number of suggested actions to enhance supports for women through menopause. Final actions are still under discussion and development, and it is hoped to announce finalised activity shortly.

The issue of menopause has also been emphasised through the nationwide "radical listening" exercise, which is currently under way, by the women's health task force. This exercise aims to enable women across the country to share their views and experiences of the health sector and health services. There is a large-scale consultation process intended to maximise the participation of women across all life stages from 18 years upwards, including minority and disadvantaged women. A representative sample of 228 women have participated in open interviews and workshops to date, and interim findings have highlighted issues, one of which is menopause. Through this process, taboo around discussing menopause and a lack of trusted information were consistently raised as key issues for women experiencing menopause.

As the Deputy said, increased education and information on menopause is one of the clear requests that has been raised by women, and I am happy to share commitments to deliver on this today. Menopause will be included as a topic within the new online citizen health guides, which are under development by the HSE to meet the health information needs of Irish citizens. Online citizen health guides will support the current and future information needs of citizens by providing a reliable, single source of information which can be republished across other healthcare systems. A women's health information repository site of trusted sources will be developed over the coming months, which will include the topic of menopause. The women's health task force intends to run an education and communication campaign to highlight information on specific women's health issues, which will include menopause.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. Her response is positive news. As the Minister of State knows, the women's health task force has identified menopause as a critical issue as it affects every woman in the country and a spectrum of supports is needed. It noted that for something with such far-reaching impacts, it is very much overlooked. Following wide consultation with women around Ireland, it has called for us to reframe that conversation to reduce stigma and to positively impact public conversation. For 2021, it has called for enhanced information, education and access to menopause information and service around the topic. The average Irish woman will spend more than one third of her life in the aftermath of menopause. The quality of her life for these years depends on whether diseases partially linked to menopause, such as coronary heart disease, develop. I believe that there is a body of work to be done around education and support for our general practitioners, GPs, and health workers at the front-line, interacting and engaging with women who are going through this.

One striking comment and conversation for some women was about the lack of healthcare provision through GP services. That is not the case in every GP service but there is definitely a deficiency that we must address. I am delighted to hear the information the Minister of State has imparted tonight. It is good news. Joe Duffy, along with the team in RTÉ, has certainly blown the lid on this. Following the last two weeks of public discourse and debate on the matter, the women of Ireland can look forward to a much more positive and compassionate health service when it comes to menopause.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is committed to improving health experiences and outcomes for all women and girls. The women’s health task force, set up in 2019 to drive progress on this issue, identified menopause as a priority issue. It has listened to women about what they would like to see delivered in this area, and the call for information and education has been heard strongly. The three key points are: menopause will be included as a topic within the new online citizens' health guides; a repository site of trusted sources of women's health information, including the topic of menopause, will be developed over the coming months; and the women’s health task force intends to run an education and communication campaign.

I will take on board the point the Deputy made about having it included in the roll-out of SPHE in secondary schools with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. Activity is planned or under way to provide the best support in this area. Women’s health will be represented on the healthy workplace framework implementation group, to be set up later this year. Through delivering this activity, the Department will ensure heightened awareness of menopause and access to trusted information for the women of Ireland.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The highlighting of women’s health is overdue and is much welcomed. I compliment the Joe Duffy programme for highlighting this issue and giving women the forum that they needed to talk to other people. As I was travelling yesterday, there was a doctor on the radio who was able to answer some really significant questions.

For some of the women, it was the first time they had ever aired or spoken about this subject in public. I am very happy to work with the Deputies to get this over the line.