Women's Health Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-07 ============================================================ Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG), Dún Laoghaire I thank the Senator and I am glad to have the opportunity to discuss our ongoing work in improving endometriosis services for patients. So much has happened, as she is aware, since October but so much more is needed. As I look around the Seanad today I see so many women here of so many different ages and experiences. I am well aware that women here may have endometriosis or may have family members who have endometriosis but it has not been a conversation that has been had as loudly as we are all trying to amplify, to drive awareness about endometriosis. It is a significant health issue affecting as many as one in seven women, as the Senator has said. As the Senator is aware, in October I launched the national framework for the management of endometriosis. It sets out for the first time a defined clinical care pathway for women and girls with endometriosis. It reflects better many of the voices of patient advocates and aims to transform how endometriosis is recognised and treated across the country. We made as many changes as we could and as were appropriate after our first patient voice forum in September, on which we followed up in March 2026. We have had quite good engagement with many more patients than we ever would have before. Although it is not perfect, it is so much more than has ever been the case before. We have an endometriosis priority action advisory group that meets regularly to support the ongoing development and implementation of priority actions. The HSE at my request has allocated additional funding to increase services and I have mandated an action plan to raise awareness and improve services for women in the longer term. In quarter 4 of 2025, I allocated funding for the provision of 100 extra surgeries to be done in that quarter and I am pleased that 142 were done in that period. This required considerable effort but it had to be done. These surgeries were carried out over those three months. Our work on recruitment has resulted in the successful recruitment of an additional colorectal surgeon in Cork University Maternity Hospital and in Tallaght. This is so important because they need to work alongside other surgeons to be able to do work on the bowel. These are complex cases requiring more than one surgeon. As the Senator is aware, I prioritised the recruitment of an additional 65 whole-time equivalent positions in the 2026 service plan. These are being recruited and include consultants, nurse specialists, psychologists, physiotherapists, radiographers, occupational therapists, medical scientists; a whole team. Recruitment is ongoing across the regions. For example, in our supra-regional centre in Tallaght, five additional consultants will be in place by September. It takes a while to recruit a consultant because not only do we have to find and recruit them but they have to give notice elsewhere. It takes time but they are in place. These specialist posts will enhance services for the most complex patients. The Senator mentioned, however, that services have not been what they have needed to be and that women have had to look abroad. As the Senator is aware, we try to fund that for them proactively through the endometriosis surgery abroad interim scheme. This is a specific two-year scheme established by us to support patients waiting for surgery for endometriosis who do not have a date in Ireland or whose cases are too complex. Since the launch of that scheme in October, it has engaged with over 150 patients and received 50 applications. We are working to approve additional centres, including in Greece, which has been a request for some time. That is in development. I fear, however, that Romania is not possible for very specific clinical reasons that I think we discussed. The clinical community has leaned into this in a big way. The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists held its annual conference on 6 March, focused on endometriosis, with participation from experts across Europe and advocates from Ireland. Endometriosis is now included in GP training, with additional education resources being developed. I can get the Senator more details. Our clinicians are working with specialist services across Europe. They have attended endometriosis intensive courses across Europe. Several HSE clinicians are now undertaking fellowship training in complex gynaecology in Europe. Two fellowship posts are also funded across our two supra-regional services to train professionals for future service delivery. The first two candidates will complete their fellowships this month and recruitment for the next cycle is ongoing. We are also supporting trying to get British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy accreditation, which is an important step. This is a big and significant body of work undertaken by our clinical community. We are also trying to promote awareness of endometriosis. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to discuss it here today. A national menstrual awareness campaign is being developed, to which, of course, endometriosis is not limited, but it must be understood in that context. It will have a particular focus on endometriosis and improving public understanding of symptoms and available supports. Just last week, I spoke with a girl whose position in a bar in Cork was not advanced because she had taken so many sick days when she was in the accident and emergency department in desperate pain, and it was not well understood. This is why we now have two education officers recruited to deliver the menstrual information specialising in endometriosis, MISE, programme that promotes mental health, education and awareness of endometriosis in schools, workplaces and sports clubs. I ask everybody to ask their local community to bring MISE in to try to tell the story better. Finally, as the House will be aware, Ireland took up the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. I get four ministerial conferences on everything to do with health, and I have prioritised one of them specifically for endometriosis. It will be on 3 December. We are inviting specialists from all over Europe and patient advocates to discuss this issue in Ireland. I am sorry, I realise I have gone way over time. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-07/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-07