Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said that an all-island healthcare model is the future in Ireland and must start delivering today, particularly in the urgent case of children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy who would be able to access treatment in the north that is unavailable in the south.

Speaking after a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement where he raised the issue with officials of the Shared Island Initiative from the Department of An Taoiseach, Teachta Crowe said:

“The future of healthcare in Ireland is on an all-island basis. Covid should have been a wake up call for this that viruses or genetic conditions do not stop at borders.

“In the case of children suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, an all-island approach would allow them to access treatment in the north that is unavailable in the south, with potentially lifechanging results.

“This is a life-limiting condition that has not nearly the level of attention that it deserves.

“My first real knowledge of the condition stemmed from the case of Archie Ennis, a young boy from Tallaght, but there are over a hundred children like Archie across the state that are simply running out of time as DMD is progressive and treatment is almost impossible to access in Ireland.

“There is a very promising drug called Givinostat that is languishing in the approval process in this jurisdiction though it is already in use in Britian and more recently in the north.

“Children with DMD do not have the luxury of time while agreements are signed on individual cases or conditions. We must make better progress towards an all-island healthcare model so that experience, facilities, and treatment are made far more readily available for children like Archie.”