Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not take all the time. It is important to welcome the Minister of State and her willingness to be involved in this debate. As Leader, I believe it is important to have a debate on a day close to World AIDS Day, which is tomorrow. As former Chairman of the Joint Committee on Health and Children, of which the Minister of State was a member, I recall we always had hearings and meetings on HIV/AIDS on the most suitable date closest to World AIDS Day, both to raise awareness and to create a profile for the work being done by many in the LGBT community and society. I commend all those doing such work and who are very active in this regard.

I commend the Minister of State on her work and the role she is playing. Ms Deirdre Seery, who is now retired, was doing considerable work when employed in the in the Sexual Health Centre in Cork.

The age group we must educate and to which we must reach out is becoming younger. I am old enough to remember that HIV-AIDS was a life sentence. It affected many of our friends. Today we should pause to remember many of our friends and members of the gay community who died. It is important that we recognise that work is being done proactively.

We can bookend this debate by examining the fact that today, whether one is in Panti Bar in Dublin or Chambers in Cork, there is rapid HIV testing taking place. This is a gargantuan change even by comparison with what was done five years ago. There is more work and outreach to be done. It depends on the model one wants to adopt in terms of bringing forward new, progressive thinking on eradicating HIV/AIDS from society. If when watching "Reeling in the Years" one compares how people with HIV/AIDS were treated by Ronald Reagan and George Bush in America with how they were treated in our State, which one may argue has a very poor record, one notes our State was much more embracing of members of the gay community. That said, the HIV survey shows that one in five men with HIV feels suicidal to this day. This figure is too high. All of us know people, including friends, who are suffering from the physical and mental effects. Stigmatisation continues.

As somebody who travels around the world – I am going to Washington DC next week to speak at an international conference — I note the issue of PrEP has been mentioned a lot today. On a personal level, I very much believe there is a need for it to be made available. I acknowledge it is available on prescription at a cost of €400 per month, but not everybody has that kind of money. This raises a question that I may not be popular for asking. Young men, in particular, have to question their own sexual behaviour. This might not be popular to say and it might be old-fashioned on one level, but saying it is about ensuring that everybody does count. I agree with Senator Warfield that there are those of a different socio-economic background who are more vulnerable, to whom we need to reach out more and for whom we need to do more work.

I have not spoken to the Minister of State for a while about this. I am very supportive of the concept of a national AIDS memorial, not least because it would be a visible reminder of those who died. I have been at the memorial in Toronto. I am not an artist so I cannot describe it properly. It is lovely but it reminds people in a very stark way of those who have died. The carved words, about remembering, life and death, are important.

Our debate today is partly about those who work so diligently. It is also about remembering those who died. It is about those who are battling with HIV every day, and it is about ensuring more people do not become infected. There is work being done. I do not agree there has been a failure to respond but I believe it is important that we work collaboratively to ensure we increase the profile and investment and that we work with communities and outreach organisations. I thank the Minister of State for attending.