Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 491: To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 674 of 19 June 2012, the steps he will take to deal with the dramatic increase in incidents of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis among children; the resources he will invest in combatting the dramatic rise in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis among children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33265/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Statistics on the numbers of people diagnosed with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are not routinely available. The available data relates to episodes of hospitalisation from these conditions and this information is presented in the table below. The data are derived from the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) system which records details on each in-patient and daycase discharge from all publicly-funded acute hospitals. It should be noted that if a patient is admitted more than once for a specific condition, each admission is counted separately in HIPE. For this reason, the figures should not be interpreted as prevalence estimates for these conditions. The data for 2011 is provisional.

Similar to all chronic disease management, the treatment of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in children requires a combination of self-help, primary care and specialist care services.

In relation to specialist services, the SDU are supporting hospitals in achieving a 9-month maximum waiting time for inpatient and daycase surgery.