As the Minister knows, one in ten women in this country suffers from the condition of lipoedema. It is a chronic progressive condition. As the national lipoedema working group on diagnostics and management does not actually specify surgery as part of that management, women end up having to go abroad. There are huge delays in processing the cross-border directive scheme applications at the moment. The women who are approaching us point to a 12-month wait. For most people, it is a nine-month wait. The HSE should be getting back to people within 30 days. Is there something specifically happening with regards to the treatment of lipoedema patients travelling abroad? Some women coming to me have spent over €10,000. They cannot afford to wait 12 months or longer to be reimbursed by the HSE.

The Deputy is right on both counts. The cross-border directive scheme reimbursement has slowed down. I have put in place a deadline of Christmas to get back to where we had been. The Deputy is quite right to highlight that it had slowed down. Lipoedema is an issue raised by her and also by Deputy Maeve O'Connell. I have spoken to Dr. Colm Henry about the programme of care for that. This is an area of women's health that has not been understood. It is a very serious condition. It impacts about 11% of women and can lead in different ways to lymphedema, which is even more impactful on women. I am very aware of what the Deputy is saying and it is something I need to follow up more on.