Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending the Chamber. This is an issue for many people around the country. As he will be aware, hair loss is not an uncommon thing in men and women. It can be caused by a variety of medical conditions, including cancer treatments that result in hair loss, alopecia and so on. Thankfully, the State has in place measures to help the many people who want to obtain wigs or hairpieces to cover their hair loss, make themselves feel more comfortable or whatever it might be.

We had progress in this area recently when the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, put in place a €500 grant for people suffering alopecia to allow them to obtain hairpieces or wigs. Previously, there was no support for them at all; support was only provided for cancer sufferers. As the Minister of State will be aware, cancer sufferers usually avail of a medical card service. Through that, there is a grant to allow them to purchase a hairpiece or wig.

This issue has been brought to my attention by Mr. Aidan Fitzgerald, a hair salon owner in Blackrock in my area. Mr. Fitzgerald is an award-winning salon owner who has been operating for more than 40 years and has an established business. As part of his work, he specialises in hairpieces and wigs. He brings them into the country and fits them to people to make sure they fit and suit because hair comes in all shapes and sizes. These wigs are not made in Ireland, so they have to be imported. I understand that, generally, they are made in China. They take different forms, in that there are synthetic wigs and wigs made of real hair that have been donated, and there are different types of wig depending on whether someone is European, Asian, African or whatever. The wig has to be specific. Synthetic wigs are slightly cheaper but many people who have been suffering long-term hair loss prefer to have wigs made of natural hair, which have to be imported. No wigs are made in Ireland, although there are charities in Ireland that deal with hair for the construction of wigs.

The difficulty that arises is that, because wigs have to be imported, there is a standard cost. Many of them come through the UK but, either way, VAT and duties have to be paid on them. The grants that are available through the medical card scheme are there to assist people. I understand that the costs range from €650 to €750 for a synthetic wig and from €1,000 to €1,500 for a real wig. Obviously, various factors affect the cost. People can also get bespoke wigs, but those cost approximately €3,000. Generally, such wigs are not chosen by cancer sufferers because their hair will often have grown back by the time the wigs have been made.The medical card scheme, however, puts in place a regime that allows people to claim different sums depending on where they are in the country. In my area, Dublin, for example, the grant under the medical card ranges from €635 to €700, which does not cover the full cost, very often, although it is a substantial contribution to the cost. In Carlow or Kilkenny, by contrast, that grant is €440, while in Tipperary, it is €500. In Cork, it is €450; in Clare, €500; and in the Naas area, for some reason, €767. There seems to be a terrible discrepancy here. Aidan told me that yesterday, he fitted a wig for a lady from Wicklow and she got a grant of €650, whereas a lady from Wexford in the same day only got €440.

There is no good reason for this. The wigs are not made locally and they cannot be bought locally, so they are bought in. There seems to be no good reason there cannot be a standardised grant for people who, in this instance, are mostly cancer sufferers, given that alopecia sufferers do not avail of this grant. Cancer sufferers throughout the country should get the same sum from the medical card scheme. They should all get the same access to wigs and hairpieces. It is an important part of their ability to deal with whatever they are going through during treatment and so on, and it is important they be allowed equal access to the grant.