The information requested by the Deputy is not routinely collected by my Department. However, my Department has asked the Eastern Regional Health Authority, which raised the matter with the migraine clinic in Beaumont Hospital, and has been informed that approximately 18% of the population suffers from migraine. Migraine clinics are in operation at Beaumont Hospital and Cork University Hospital and provide valuable services to migraine sufferers.
No specific data regarding work days lost in Ireland is available. However, based on British studies, males who suffer from migraine experience an average loss of 5.6 working days per annum, with a corresponding figure of 6.7 lost days for women.
September was designated as the World Headache Awareness Month and this year, as in previous years, I signed a proclamation to focus attention on the burden of headache and to encourage those who seek to alleviate it.