Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to begin by acknowledging World AIDS Day, which the Minister of State has done. I want us to remember, grieve and celebrate all the people who were claimed by the disease. More than 35 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the beginning of that epidemic. I want to acknowledge the emotional cost to the many who survived and dodged the virus as they watched, counted and stopped counting the number of their friends and chosen family who were claimed by the disease.

I was in Áras an Uachtaráin on World AIDS Day in 2017 when the President, Michael D. Higgins, said, "Those who suffered the most in the 1980s were those exposed not only to a prejudice born of misunderstanding of HIV and AIDS, but also to other forms of social oppression which were, and are, too often manifested in our society." So many of the people I am proud to remember fought incredibly hard for many of the services that we have today. They also fought incredibly hard for the right to live free from the church and State, along with the right to access services such as the one I have asked the Minister of State to make a statement on today.

These types of services are incredibly important. Last year, there were 536 new cases of HIV in Ireland. According to HIV Ireland, men who have sex with men are the group most affected by HIV in Ireland, accounting for 56% of diagnoses in 2018. However, the Gay Mens Health Service, GMHS, is the only sexual health service which has not reopened. The sexual health services which are open are oversubscribed. The closure of GMHS will have an impact on the transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, STIs, which will disproportionately affect gay and bisexual men.

Will the Minister of State do everything he can to help GMHS to reopen as a matter of priority? Between 15 and 20 LGBT organisations have written to the HSE and launched a petition live online on this matter.