Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have come from a conference entitled, Rare Disorders with Borders, which is dealing with the issue of rare diseases. Today is International Rare Disease Day. This is an important issue because of the lack of support for those with rare diseases. There may only by three or four people in the country who suffer from a particular rare disease and there is a need for more co-ordination between EU member states. One of the themes of the conference was co-ordination between Northern Ireland and the Republic on this issue. The cross-border health care directive came into being on 9 March 2011. The Government has 30 months in which to implement it but we now have less than six months to do so. When will the Minister for Health make a decision on the implementation of the directive, which will allow those who are not entitled to care in this State or who are subject to undue delay the right to travel to another member state for the necessary care? Will the Leader seek a response from the Minister on this important issue? It is also important in the context of the provision of care and support for families in which a member is affected by a rare disease. I seek a response from the Department on that matter.