Exclusion of Fibromyalgia from Long Term Illness scheme is a 'bitter pill' - Nolan

Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan has described the exclusion of Fibromyalgia from the Long-Term Illness (LTI) Scheme as a ‘bitter pill for the many women in Offaly and indeed across the state”.

It comes as Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill confirmed she has no plans to extend the list of conditions on the LTI Scheme.

Fibromyalgia is a condition characterised by severe musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and cognitive difficulties often described as ‘fibro fog.’ Individuals who suffer from the painful condition routinely experience higher than normal levels of pain intensity compared to non-fibromyalgia sufferers.

While the number of people affected by fibromyalgia is not known, there is research to suggest that this could be up to 1 in 20 individuals with women being 7 time more likely than men to be affected by this condition.

Deputy Nolan had asked Minister Carroll-MacNeill through a parliamentary question if she will recognise fibromyalgia as a long-term disability for the purposes of healthcare, in line with a decision taken on this matter in Northern Ireland some years ago:

“As I understand it, since about 2016 the UK and Northern Ireland have recognised Fibromyalgia as a debilitating long -term illness that regularly makes doing even simple tasks extraordinarily difficult.

"It is my view, having spoken to some of the women who live with the condition on a daily basis here, that it absolutely merits being included in our own LTI Scheme,” said Deputy Nolan.

“These people are living with intense pain on a daily basis, often along with other conditions like rheumatism and even chronic depression. How can that not be considered a long-term illness?"

Nolan highlighted that the scheme has not been updated in over 50 years, and has fallen behind other EU countries.

“People who come to me on this issue have rightly pointed out that it is now 2025, and the scheme has not been revised since 1975. I fully share their perfectly reasonable view that this alone should warrant serious review and modernisation.

“I do accept that there has been some work to improve access to and affordability of healthcare services including reductions in the Drugs Payment Scheme threshold and expansion of access to free GP care, and the abolition of all public in-patient hospital charges for children and adults.

She added: “The fact remains, with respect to Fibromyalgia at least, this is a recognised long-term illness in the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy to name but a few. We need similar recognition here in terms of it being included on the LTI Scheme."