Episode 10
Shine A Light
Friday, 16 October 2026 - 40 minutes
A Laois Senator is renewing her call for urgent improvements to endometriosis care in Ireland.
It comes just under a year after The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill launched the National Framework for the Management of Endometriosis in Ireland.
Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack says women have come forward in large numbers with accounts of prolonged pain, medical trauma, delayed diagnoses and limited access to specialist care.
The party recently sent out a survey to find out if women have seen an improvement in care.
There were 6,500 replies.
Ms McCormack says one woman she spoke with has been waiting 17 years and still has no diagnosis.
She says women are not able to work or care for their children.
The Senator says "women are being told it's a bad period or its IBS".
She believes that treatment can be fixed as in other countries they have centre of excellence.
In the study, they asked women if they could get a clearer pathway to a treatment plan and if they had to travel abroad.
She says the results are heart-breaking as a lot of women are still having to travel abroad for treatment.
Speaking on Shine a Light, she says "80% of women are not receiving a diagnosis for years and it's appalling".
Shine A Light is Funded by the News reporting Scheme.
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