Eamonn Coghlan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I would also like to thank and congratulate Senator Mary Ann O'Brien and Senator Power for bringing the motion to the House. I had not intended to be here or even to speak on the motion today. I had a meeting upstairs in my office and changed my mind about attending when I heard Senator Mary Ann O'Brien speak in an up-front fashion. I was astounded to learn from her that in Ireland there are 470,000 people who live with asthma, that Ireland has the fourth highest prevalence of asthma in the world, that one in ten adults and one in five children suffer with asthma and that more than one person dies every week in Ireland from asthma although 90% of asthma deaths are preventable. Therefore, it is important to highlight the effects of asthma on society.

When I was growing up as a young boy, and as a young sports person, one never heard much about asthma or its affects. One only heard about it when it was given as the reason a young person did not play sports, but such occurrences were rare and few. Society has changed considerably over the past 40 or 50 years and so too has the affect of asthma on society, not just in Ireland but around the world. I have often wondered why more people than ever before suffer from asthma. The ban on burning coal and smoking cigarettes in public places has helped Irish society but asthma still affects us in a big way. Why?

We know that asthma can be beaten and controlled. As a matter of fact, from my sports career I am familiar with the female world record holder for the marathon, the great Paula Radcliffe. She could run a marathon in two hours and 15 minutes, yet she suffers from asthma. The great Haile Gebrselassie, a multiple world record holder, Olympic champion and world champion, has also competed over the years despite having asthma. Listened to the debate on the monitor in my office, I heard Senator Power say that the great David Beckham suffers from asthma. I know from my involvement in sports and coaching young children that quite a number of them have exercised-induced asthma. Why?

As a parent I have also witnessed asthma at first hand. My son, John, had asthma but he happens to be a national athletics champion and even won a gold medal for Ireland in the European Cross Country Championships a number of years ago. Senator Ó Murchú has speculated that perhaps asthma runs in families. My son has inherited his talent for running but there is no history of asthma among our immediate family and extended family. My son is the only one in my family to suffer from it. My wife and I have tried to find out why this is. We were fortunate enough to have support in that we were able to find the best medical team available that prescribed the proper medication. We were able to identify the correct time of day that he should use a flow meter, and whether it had to be done before or after exercise. We also recorded everything daily for a long period in order to understand the condition. Unfortunately, there are plenty of families who do not have the same support mechanisms available to them when it comes to tending to their asthmatic conditions.

People often wonder whether asthma comes from food, the musty damp conditions that are prevalent in some homes today, animal hair, pollen, carpet fibres and so forth. My wife and I investigated whether these were the cause. We even went to the extent of moving our son's bedroom. Originally his bedroom was in the most northerly position of the house, where it did not get as much sun, and it tended to be a little damp. We hoped that by moving him to another bedroom his condition would improve, and it did change his condition. Over the past four or five years his asthmatic condition seems to have disappeared and he never talks about it anymore.

Asthma is a serious problem and, as Senator Ó Murchú has said, we need to focus going forward. Senator Mary Ann O'Brien has recommended that we implement the HSE's national clinical programme for asthma, introduce a scheme to assist people with asthma with the financial burden of their disease, and deliver a free annual asthma review for each person with asthma, as recommended in the HSE national clinical programme for asthma. I support the motion and look forward to hearing the remarks of the Minister of State.