Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for her positive response. I agree with what she said about these rules having been made more than 40 years ago. I know one or two people who have Crohn's disease would certainly love to make a submission to the Department in relation to their condition and maybe even a case study concerning how debilitated and ill they are. Perhaps this might be something the Department might be open to receiving and perhaps the Minister of State might be able to check this out for me. To see how ill that young girl was really was the cornerstone in this regard for me. The other lady I met was pregnant, but has had a diagnosis of the disease since she was 11. She said it never leaves you, you just learn to manage it. That young girl, though, certainly spends most of her time in hospital - this is the key thing here. She also spends a lot of time at home and this means her mother has to take time off work to stay with her. I would appreciate any support the Minister of State can give or any information she can bring back to me.