Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has given me huge confidence that we were not far off, when we came to our conclusions that this would cost the State very little. All the things she pointed out indicate this is only a little more than what is already being done, but would be something that would have a deep impact.

The Minister of State spoke about the women's health task force. It has been set up for a relatively short period. While a huge amount has been achieved in the past few years, it is difficult to tell somebody who is going through a very difficult time that amount of money is not being found to do something that will have a deep impact on the rest of their lives. The "Let's take the mystery out of menopause" and talk about it campaign worked very well. As I said, let us talk about it but let us actually do something as well.

I thank all the Members. As the Minister of State quite rightly said, both men and women have spoken, which is important. I will not individually thank one gender over another because it is important that everybody speaks about it, but I thank everybody for being here. Senator Clifford-Lee spoke about the fact that women prioritise other people. We all know that. It is why we sometimes do not prioritise our healthcare. Even for those who can afford HRT on the face of things, what they are actually doing is saying they can afford it but are making a choice to spend the money on somebody else because most people are tightening their belts. If somebody does not choose it, it then has a lasting impact on public health. It is a no-brainer.

Senator Conway mentioned that men are part of the conversation, which is very important. As others said, we are a First World economy. This should not be a conversation we are continuing to have. We have moved quite fast as a country on many issues around women's healthcare, including access to abortion, IVF and contraception. There is now an opportunity for us to advance in this area.

On Senator Boylan's contribution, it is important to raise the point that in our mothers' time there was significant disinformation about HRT. That has now changed. As politicians, we also have a job to ensure that disinformation does not continue. In the vast majority of cases, HRT is perfectly safe and is something that is health-giving.All of the time, it is about having conversations with GPs.

Senator Dooley mentioned this conversation was probably kicked off by Joe Duffy’s show. I stood up in the Seanad – at the time we were in the convention centre – and spoke about it from my heart and I was vilified by many. There were two camps: women who said this is how they are feeling and those pushing back, saying “We are doing a fine service. What are you talking about? Women come to us. We know exactly what is going on.” However, that is not the reality faced by women.

We have an obligation, even when it is hard, to say that the healthcare women are getting is not good enough and then put in place the public policies that will change that. I met with the GPs after that. I am delighted that the Government and the Department have been able to work together to come up with a framework and guidelines to help all healthcare providers understand what to look for. That has been a huge step forward and I commend the Department on that.

Senator Dolan raised and, interestingly, the Minister of State picked up on, lone parents. That strikes a chord with many of us because many people who come to speak to us are struggling lone parents. Those are the people I am thinking of. They may not have access to a medical card. It is tiny for the State but it has a huge impact. It then has an impact on child poverty reduction. I just came from a meeting with the Taoiseach in relation to the child poverty unit. When we talk about the sacrifices people make because their children need something, this is exactly what we are talking about.

Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about how it is a hidden challenge. She was strong on getting this done.

We have 40% women in this Chamber. That is why, as the Minister of State mentioned, we talk about it. It is our lived experienced.

I thank the Minister of State for the commitment she gave. As she and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, know, I will not stay quiet about this - I rarely do when it comes to these issues. I am delighted to have the full support of all my colleagues today.