Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to seek support for 470,000 asthma sufferers in this country. Ireland has the fourth highest asthma statistics in the world. In my own county of Tipperary alone, there are 15,000 people suffering from asthma, approximately 10% of the population. In 2011, the Government approved a clinical programme for asthma but, to date, this programme has not been implemented. There are a number of facets to this programme but the ones I will highlight in particular are the provision of one free GP visit per year for asthma sufferers, which would cost approximately €2.5 million, the provision of an Asthma Society of Ireland advice line, which would cost approximately €150,000, and a recognition that asthma is a long-term illness. The number of people suffering from asthma increases during the summer and many people will experience asthma along with hay fever. For a person who suffers with asthma all year round, it is a debilitating disease and it deserves to be recognised as a long-term illness.

The Government, in good faith, approved the strategy four years ago but it is time for action. There has been some loosening of the purse strings in advance of the budget and money could not be spent in a better way than by providing the services I have outlined for asthma sufferers. Perhaps the Leader would request the Minister for Health to come to the House to have a debate on this subject before the summer recess.