Contact your local TD

Make your voice heard by asking your local TD to raise issues facing many haemochromatosis patients in Ireland, including the unfair and inequitable €80 charge for venesections for patients without Medical Cards or private health insurance.

We continue to lobby the HSE and the Department of Health to waive the cost of treatment for venesections and request that more GPs are equipped to provide venesection services in their practices.

There are a number of ways you can interact with your TDs. Many TDs have local clinics in their constituencies where you can make an appointment to meet them in person and this is usually the best way to bring up issues of concern to you. TDs are more likely to take action on an issue if a number of their constituents bring it up with them directly. 

As well as going to a TD’s clinic, you can also email or write to your TDs. You can find the names and emails of TDs via this link – https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/  Simply enter your county and the details for your local political representatives will come up.

We also include a sample letter here. You can copy and paste the sample into an email or letter, or you can bring them up in person at your local TD’s clinic.

Remember to personalise your letter/email by sharing your own personal experiences of the issues you have encountered – although data and numbers are important, it is your personal experiences that will be of most interest to your local TD.

Our work with the media

We continue to work closely with all media, locally, regionally and nationally throughout Ireland, including print media, broadcast (radio and TV), online media and social media to raise awareness of haemochromatosis or ‘iron overload’.

We are also very grateful for our ambassadors who are well-known public figures, sportspeople or those who work in the entertainment sector. You can help the work of the Irish Haemochromatosis Association by contacting your own local media, doing interviews and promoting awareness of haemochromatosis on your own social media pages – or by letting us know your contacts in the media who can help us spread awareness and education about Ireland’s most common genetic disorder.

Email Miriam at [email protected] if you would like to get involved or if you would like to help with our media work during World Haemochromatosis Awareness Week, which takes place every year from the 1-7^th June annually.

Contact Us

Are you looking to advocate for our cause or represent a media organisation interested in Haemochromatosis? Contact us using the form below!