Sinn Féin has brought a motion to the Dáil calling on the Government to deliver appropriate care to women with endometriosis.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald called for a "gold standard, multi-disciplinary centre for the treatment of endometriosis" in Ireland.
"It is unacceptable that women's healthcare is still at the bottom rung of the ladder," she said.
Endometriosis is a chronic disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.
This causes inflammation and scar tissue to form in the pelvic region and sometimes in other parts of the body.
Sufferers can experience pelvic pain, abdominal bloating, nausea, fatigue, and in some cases, depression, anxiety, and infertility.
Ms McDonald said that her party held nine public meetings in recent months to hear women's lived experiences and that these meetings were full of "pain and tears".
She said 40 of these women and their family members were in the public gallery.
She said women at the meetings said that the "pain of childbirth without an epidural or any pain relief was a walk in the park when compared to the pain of endometriosis".
Ms McDonald said women are seeking treatment in London, Athens and Bucharest, adding that the average wait time for a diagnosis in Ireland is "nine years".
She said endometriosis affects one in ten women and that the pain can be "so intense" that "it can leave young women confined to wheelchairs, to bed, missing work, missing school".
"It upends lives," she said.
She said it was "enraging" that the Government has "pushed back" with a "shameful" amendment.
"By deleting our motion in its entirety, you attempt to delete the women and girls' calls for better," she said.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she had no interest to "engage in politics" around "something that is as serious as this".
She said that how "endometriosis was unrecognised for so long is literally beyond me".
Ms Carroll MacNeill said as the "first female Minister for Health for a very, very long time", she has a very "strong commitment to delivering services that are going to make a difference".
"Every single person here knows it has been overlooked," she said.
She said she wants to address the "sheer lack" of service delivery for women’s health "that has been there for so long".
Ms Carroll MacNeill said instead of one centre of excellence, her department decided to establish regional hubs.
She said there are five regional endometriosis hubs around the country and two specialist hubs for severe cases in Cork and Dublin.
She said there have been advancements in the last five years and that she "can’t make up for the previous experience".
The minister said there is a dedicated women and infants' health programme.
She said this has made "some difference" to endometriosis care and "we have more work to do there".
She said since 2021, the Government has invested over €5 million to "expand specialist endometriosis services" and to "provide treatment for women with moderate and complex endometriosis".
"There is an additional €2m this year to continue to do that," she added.
She said this investment will result in the recruitment of nearly 43 staff by the end of this year.
She acknowledged that an "awful lot more work that needs to be done".
Attending one of Sinn Féin’s public meetings in Wynn’s Hotel, Dublin city, was 18-year-old Nikita Clarke.
Ms Clarke's letter about her struggle with endometriosis was read into the Dáil in April.
Ms Clarke said she "cried" when she received a diagnosis of endometriosis in Bucharest.
"I am still waiting to this day to be recognised as someone who has endometriosis in Ireland," she said.
"It was like four years lifted off my chest. To me, the worst part is done," she said. "I am going back to Romania in August".
Ms Clarke said travelling abroad for treatment was "hard". "I was in agony for the whole flight, but it was worth it," she said.
She is missing her debs to receive treatment in Bucharest next month. However, she said this was an easy decision between "missing one night" or having to "use a mobility aid" for life.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly shared her experience with endometriosis in the Dáil.
She asked the minister to withdraw her "sickening" amendment. "I was diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 24 years of age," she said. "I was lucky."
She said her husband had to lift her "off the floor" when she was "crippled". She said she was "gaslit" by doctors.
"It was bloody agony, and I will never ever forget how they made me feel."
She said 30 years later, "precious little has changed".
