Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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75. To ask the Minister for Health her plans to advance the women’s health action plan; and if consideration has been given to improvements in treatment for endometriosis in view of the fact that women have to travel abroad for surgery.. [9742/25]

Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I ask the Minister, in respect of the women's health action plan, what are her intentions and what are the plans, particularly when it comes to endometriosis, as it affects nearly 155,000 women in this country.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which has been a hidden difficulty for many women for many years. It is great to see it mentioned so freely in the Seanad yesterday and in the Dáil today. I thank her for raising it. It is estimated that one in ten women will be affected by endometriosis and although not all women will be symptomatic and not all women will experience it in the same way, it can be really debilitating for some women and our health service should support those women in every way possible.

Treatment for endometriosis ranges from everyday pain medication and hormone treatments to surgical interventions. Budget 2024 provided an allocation with a full year cost of €2.175 million for 2025, which brings the total investment for endometriosis care to more than €5 million since 2021. The development of a national endometriosis framework was announced in 2023 and the HSE has advised that framework is nearing completion. I know that women with endometriosis have a keep interest in seeing that framework, as they rightly should. The HSE is engaging with all stakeholders in its attempt to finalise the framework.

The clinical pathway for endometriosis care spans primary, local and specialist hospital care. Not everybody needs specialist hospital care but for those who do, they absolutely need it. The model of care ensures treatment through supraregional specialist centres with a support network of five regional endometriosis hubs. The HSE has advised these sites are currently taking referrals and providing treatment pathways. The supraregional sites offer specialised care to more complex cases. It is a good thing to note that 1,150 new patients were seen across those sites in 2024, though I imagine there are more in need.

Personally, I am committed, as I know this House is, to fully implementing the Women's Health Action Plan 2024-2025 to continue to improve women's health outcomes and experiences.

Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for the recognition of this very important issue. As she said, it has wide-ranging effects on women. Some can live with it day to day; others live in chronic pain. We have to highlight as well that many women have to go abroad in order to get some of the surgical treatment, so I welcome the fact that we will focus on this and get the surgical treatments for these women closer to where they live, because every mile they do is a mile in pain for them.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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It is always important as well to recognise the debilitating impact that endometriosis can have on somebody's life, their ability to be at work or their ability to care for children. It is a serious condition that needs intervention. It is important to set out where the specialist centres are. There are supraregional ones in Dublin, in Tallaght and in Cork University Maternity Hospital. The five regional hubs are in the Rotunda, the Coombe, the National Maternity Hospital, University Hospital Limerick and University Hospital Galway. The idea is to try to provide interdisciplinary care to women experiencing endometriosis up to a moderate stage - for example, the cohort of women whose symptoms cannot be adequately managed in their primary care setting. All of those five regional hub sites are now taking referrals and providing treatment pathways for those women.