Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)

I want to raise a concerning development regarding the hormone replacement therapy, HRT, scheme. Recently, the Chair of the Oireachtas health committee has been pushing to expand the free HRT scheme to include trans women. This totally ignores the difficulties and struggles of biological women who are going through the menopause. It is deeply misleading to suggest that excluding trans women is discrimination. The medical purpose of this scheme is to support menopausal women. Our healthcare resources should be directed where there is a need, not where ideology demands they should go. There is a question of when and where this constant pushing of ideology will end. What is next? Are we going to fight for biological men to have access to free smear tests?

The whole purpose of the HRT scheme was a recognition of the difficulties women face as they go through menopause. We currently have 740 waiting lists for endometriosis surgery. We have women across the country on waiting lists who are desperate to see gynaecologists. Worryingly, there is a 12% negative difference in the five-year survival chances for women diagnosed with breast cancer in public hospitals versus those diagnosed in private hospitals. This is life-threatening to people around the country, and it is disappointing that the focus by other parties is not on these issues. They prefer to campaign to abolish the Dáil prayer or for HRT to be prioritised for trans women or for legislation relating to non-binary people. This push goes hand in hand with the replacement of terms like "breastfeeding" with "chestfeeding" and "mothers" with "pregnant people". We are told again and again that this is inclusion. In truth, however, it is a total erasure of women, of who we are and of what we are as women.

This is not about excluding anyone from compassionate care. It is about ensuring that our policies protect the most vulnerable and that decisions are guided by facts, not by pressure from activist organisations. Women deserve dignity, respect and healthcare that acknowledges who we are, not language and legislation that seek to erase us.