Coming out of the pandemic we need to take another look at healthcare in the country. All women deserve timely and equitable access to high-quality healthcare and while there are a range of serious historic failures and countless tragedies when it comes to women’s health in this country, Labour has a vision for a new era when it comes to the gender bias in Ireland’s health system. For too long, women’s health and wellbeing have come second in Irish healthcare.

The Labour Party is committed to developing a sustainable healthcare system and we want to ensure that the needs of women are at the forefront of our policies. 

Gynaecological services are often the poor relation of the health service and are frequently defunded due to budget overruns in hospitals. Women in some parts of the country are waiting two years or more for the diagnosis and treatment of serious gynaecological disorders such as uterine prolapse and endometriosis. Endometriosis alone is thought to affect approximately 100,000 people in Ireland. The Labour Party wants to see funding for obstetric and gynaecological care ringfenced to ensure that these essential health services are fully resourced to reduce waiting lists.